Unvaccinated Novak Djokovic pulls out of Montreal tournament
Baku, August 5, AZERTAC
Novak Djokovic withdrew from the upcoming hard-court tournament in Montreal on Thursday because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and is therefore not allowed to enter Canada, according to AP.
By the same reason, as things stand now, he also will not be able to compete in the U.S. Open later this month.
Djokovic, a 35-year-old from Serbia, has said he won’t get the shots, even if that means he can’t go to certain tournaments. He missed the Australian Open in January after being deported from that country and needed to sit out two events in the United States earlier this year.
He did play in the French Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Rafael Nadal, and at Wimbledon, which Djokovic won last month for his 21st Grand Slam title — one behind the men’s record held by Nadal.
Unvaccinated foreign citizens can’t go to Canada or the U.S, so Djokovic pulled out of Montreal a day before the draw is scheduled to take place for the tournament and is expected to have to sit out the U.S. Open, which starts in New York on Aug. 29.
Last weekend, Djokovic posted on social media that he was holding out hope of getting the chance to play in the U.S. Open, writing: “I am preparing as if I will be allowed to compete, while I await to hear if there is any room for me to travel to US. Fingers crossed!”
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