All You Need to Know About Novak Djokovic’s Controversy Surrounding Indian Wells Masters 2023

Indian Wells Masters, or the BNP Paribas Open, is one of the most prestigious tournaments of the year. Players arrive in the US from all over the world to participate in the tournament. However, in a bizarre turn of events, world number 1 Novak Djokovic will not be participating in the event. His absence comes after the fact that he still hasn’t got the vaccine for the novel Coronavirus. His absence has caused an uproar in the world of tennis and all throughout the media. Nikoloz Basilashvili will be taking the spot that would’ve been otherwise reserved for Djokovic.

Entry into the USA is dependent upon the vaccination status of an individual, particularly for non-citizens. Travelers will not be allowed if they are unvaccinated. The policy will be effective stand till May 11th and will be lifted after that. This means that Djokovic will be denied entry into the country and subsequent participation in the ‘Sunshine Doubles’.

Novak Djokovic’s appeal rejected by the Homeland Security

Djokovic applied for exemption from the United States Department of Homeland Security. However, his request was denied due to his unvaccinated status. The application drew attention from several important figures. Florida state senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott talked about the scenario and asked Joe Biden, POTUS, to allow Djokovic to compete in the tournament.

The official accounts of the US Open and the Miami Open shared the application in an unusual move. The topic of their posts was to support Nole, and they hoped he could play in the country.

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He said a while ago that he won’t fill up a spot if he wasn’t allowed in the country. Therefore, the world number 1 withdrew from the competition before the draws were made. Djokovic made this move because he received flak for not withdrawing last year before the draws. This led to his opponent winning by default.

Players that have spoken out in support of Nole

The Serbinator has received support from the majority of the world and that is only growing. Even fellow players, like John Isner, took to Twitter to show his support. He made a sarcastic remark about how Djokovic was considered ‘dangerous’ till May 11th, but will be deemed ‘safe’ after that. Even Reilly Opelka left scathing remarks for the policy followed by his country.

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This will be the second consecutive year in which Djokovic will miss the two ATP 1000 events. He also missed the Australian Open and the US Open last year due to the same reasons. If allowed, the ‘Djoker’ would’ve been one of the favorites to win the tournaments. Even though he lost to Daniil Medvedev in the Dubai Tennis Championships, his stellar performance in the Australian Open would’ve put him ahead of everyone.