Novak Djokovic’s COVID-19 vaccination status forced him to withdraw from Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati

Along with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, 35, is a significant member of the “Big Three,” and experts have named him one of the best tennis players of the twenty-first century following this year’s Wimbledon victory.

Despite earning a victorious title, the Serbian superstar unfortunately missed out on an ATP tournament in the USA due to his lack of the coronavirus vaccine.

Why was Novak Djokovic ruled out of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati?

After being barred from the Cincinnati Western & Southern Open due to an unvaccinated status, the participation of Novak Djokovic in this year’s US Open is still up in the air.

Due to his COVID-19 immunization status, World No. 6 Djokovic has also withdrawn from next week’s Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati which is called the ‘warm-up’ tournament before the Grand Slam in the USA.

The hard-court competition in Cincinnati is scheduled for August 13–21, however, the foreign nationals without vaccinations are currently prohibited from entering either Canada or the United States and therefore, the Serbian was forced to withdraw from the Canadian Open in Montreal earlier this month. As a result of his lack of vaccinations, he was also forced to skip the Australian Open in January.

Novak Djokovic, who has three US Open victories on his credit, finished second last year after losing to Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the championship match.

The Serbian superstar has won 21 major titles and has won his ninth Wimbledon championship of his career and therefore, to tie Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slam victories among men, he only needs one more, but he has already made it known that he has no intention of landing the shot.

Upon hearing the news of rejection from the Cincinnati Open, Djokovic said, “I’m not vaccinated and I’m not planning to get vaccinated so the only good news I can have is them removing the mandated green vaccine card or whatever you call it to enter United States or exemption.”