Allowing Novak Djokovic into the US and not family members is "tricky", says Prakash Amritraj
Novak Djokovic has applied to the United States government for an exemption to the still-active restrictions on unvaccinated foreign nationals from entering the US with the Indian Wells and Miami Masters 1000 events on the horizon. However, granting the Serbian tennis great such an exemption without allowing his family members and families in general from getting into the country is a "tricky" situation the government faces, according to Prakash Amritraj.
The former player believes that allowing the still unvaccinated Djokovic into the country is not as straightforward as it may seem, despite it being the best possible outcome from a tennis perspective.
Djokovic has less than a month to receive word on his exemption application with the Indian Wells Masters set to begin on March 8th, before the US hardcourt summer continues in Miami the week after.
Sharing his thoughts on the situation, Amritraj also presented a flip side to his earlier argument, saying that while the US government has already announced plans to lift the vaccine restrictions in May, it probably does not make sense for them to still be in place.
"It becomes a tricky situation at that point. You know, if you excuse the great tennis player, then a lot of the family members and so forth who've been trying to get in, it's a tricky situation, where do you make that call?" said Prakash Amritraj on the Tennis Channel.
"But a lot of other countries have loosened up these restrictions and it seems it is coming off in May. So should they even be here right now?" he added.
Talking strictly from the perspective of what an ideal outcome in this situation would look like for the tennis world, the 39-year-old American has no doubts about the importance of Djokovic's presence at Indian Wells and Miami, which are huge events on the annual calendar. Amritraj declared that the 22-time Grand Slam champion has established himself as the world's best player currently.
"If you just look at it from a tennis perspective, he's sort of established himself as the best tennis player in the world," Amritaj continued.
"So, for all of us, it's a huge shame not to have him at two of the biggest events that we have."
"Just doesn't make sense" - Former coach of Roger Federer and Pete Sampras split over Novak Djokovic potentially receiving an exemption
Paul Annacone, who has coached both Roger Federer and Pete Sampras as well as Sloane Stephens, also shared his thoughts on the exemption situation involving Novak Djokovic. Annacone echoed Amritraj's thoughts, stating that while the tennis fan in him wants to see the Serbian superstar play in Indian Wells and Miami next month, he does not feel the same way when looking at the situation from a realistic perspective.
Annacone feels that granting Djokovic an exemption and not granting the same exemption to other people applying for it is not ideal.
"As a tennis fan, I want him here," Annacone said on the same. "As someone who looks at the world realistically, I don't know how they let him in and don't let everyone in then. That just doesn't make sense."
The World No. 1 is expected to play in the Dubai Open later this month, but it will be interesting to see whether he can quickly recover from a serious hamstring injury that he battled en route to his Australian Open-winning campaign.