Novak Djokovic hopes for a miracle with Indian Wells Days Away

Novak Djokovic, who last won the Australian Open with a three-centimeter tear in his hamstring, is back on the tennis court this week, making his way through the court at the Dubai Championships until Daniil Medvedev stopped him in the semifinals on Friday .

But as the tennis calendar gets serious again, with two of the most important tournaments outside of the Grand Slams scheduled for later this month in California and Miami, the Djokovic train seems destined to grind to a halt.

Djokovic, once again the world No. 1 player in men’s singles, is eager to play next week at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, and later this month at the Miami Open. In recent weeks, he has asked for an exemption from the rule that people who are not permanent residents of the United States are not allowed to enter the country if they have not been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Much to the dismay of Djokovic and some of the biggest names in the sport, things are not going well, and time is running out for Djokovic to pull out of the tournament before his inability to play leaves a giant hole in the upper quadrant of the bracket .

On Friday afternoon, the USTA a statement on Twitter saying that “the USTA and US Open are hopeful that Novak is successful in his petition to enter the country, and that the fans will see him in action again in Indian Wells and Miami.”

John McEnroe, the seven-time Grand Slam champion and a television commentator, called Djokovic’s inability to play in the US “absurd.” If President Biden doesn’t change his mind — and he should at this point — Djokovic must pull out on Sunday, or a player who is about 100 places down could end up taking his favorite spot on the lottery ticket, Tommy Haas, the tournament. director of Indian Wells, said in an interview Wednesday.

Haas, a former world No. 2 who hails from Germany, has lobbied multiple organizations to find a way to get Djokovic to the US. The United States Tennis Association has been in touch with its government contacts but has stopped formal lobbying. on behalf of Djokovic.

“Novak’s situation is obviously frustrating for us,” said Haas. “We want the best tennis player in the world to be here. He writes to me, he wants to be here. So of course you’re like, okay, let’s try to make this happen. How can we find out that this is going to be realistic? But in the end, unfortunately, we do not have that in our hands and that is frustrating.”

A spokesperson for Djokovic did not respond to an email asking for comment. Djokovic said earlier this week that he was still waiting for a ruling on his request for exemption.

“Everything is currently in the works,” Djokovic said in Belgrade, Serbia, late last month. “I have a great desire to be there.

Djokovic, who won five times at Indian Wells, has not explained why he thinks he should be eligible for an exemption. He has not been vaccinated, but the only reason he has ever given for his choice is that he believes people should have the right to decide whether to get vaccinated.

The situation around Djokovic is not the only annoying development for the Indian Wells tournament.

Rafael Nadal, who is still recovering from a leg injury sustained in the second round of the Australian Open, withdrew earlier this week. Nadal hates missing out on Indian Wells, and not just because he’s won the tournament three times. Nadal often stays at the home of Larry Ellison, the founder of the tech company Oracle that owns the tournament, and Nadal also gets to play a lot of golf in his spare time.

In another worrying development for both Indian Wells and tennis, during a match in Rio de Janeiro last weekend, Carlos Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spanish sensation, aggravated the hamstring that kept him out of the Australian Open. The injury forced him to withdraw from a tournament in Acapulco, Mexico this week. Alcaraz thrilled the crowd when he won the US Open in September, the last time he competed in America.

Even without some of the biggest stars, Indian Wells will always be one of the highlights on the schedule. Players repeatedly rank the tournament as one of the best in the world. It is a destination for locals and tourists. The snow appears to have cleared from Southern California for now. The vast majority of the approximately half a million fans attending the two-week event (including qualifying) are from outside the Palm Springs area.

It also helps that tennis in the United States is in the midst of a small boom. The USTA announced last month that participation has grown for a third consecutive year in 2022, with more than a million new entrants. A total of 23.6 million people played tennis at least once in 2022, an increase of 5.9 million or 33 percent since the start of 2020, when the pandemic drove hordes of new and lapsed players back to the sport.

And yet, barring a last-minute change in policy or a decision to grant a waiver, the man who plays the sport like no other will be there.

It is not clear why Djokovic thinks he qualifies for an exemption. The only criteria he seems able to meet are proof that vaccination would be detrimental to his health or that his presence in the United States would be “in the national interest, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, or Secretary of Homeland Security (or their representatives),” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Last month, the House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the vaccine requirement 227-203, with seven Democrats joining all Republicans who voted in favor. Proponents of the bill said U.S. policy is out of step with the rest of the world, where vaccination requirements for foreigners have largely been abolished. The Senate has not voted on the issue, which the CDC says will not automatically end in May when the Biden administration plans to end the 2020 national and public health Covid-19 emergencies.

Ending the vaccination requirement for foreign travelers will most likely require a separate order from President Biden to end the presidential proclamation that put it into effect.

On Friday, Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio of Florida sa letter to President Biden urging him to grant the waiver that would allow Djokovic to play in the Miami Open.

Indian Wells tournament director Haas said there is a silver lining to the absence of Djokovic, Nadal and possibly Alcaraz, at least for the other players.

“When I’m like a young American coming up, I think, ‘Look, this is my time to hold up the trophy,'” Haas said. “From my point of view as a tournament director and one of the best players can’t compete here, obviously it’s a sad thing, a frustrating thing.”