Novak Djokovic officially withdraws from National Bank Open 2022
Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has officially withdrawn from the Canadian Open, owing to his unvaccinated status.
Novak Djokovic withdraws from tournament because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and therefore not allowed in Canada espn.com/app
The chances of the 21-time Grand Slam champion participating in the North American Masters event were grim to begin with. The organizers of the tournament have now confirmed that Djokovic will not be playing in Montreal this year.
Montreal update:
OUT: Djokovic
IN: Bonzi
Next: Nakashima
The Canadian Masters tournament director, Eugene Lepierre, had previously hinted that he did not expect Novak Djokovic to be allowed to play at this year's event.
"Either the Canadian government is going to change the rules regarding vaccination or he is going to roll up his sleeves and get the vaccine. But I don't think any of those scenarios are realistic," Lepierre said.
This also puts the Serb's US Open participation in a tricky spot. Last month, US Open slam organizers released a statement regarding the tournament's stance on the vaccination mandate.
“The US Open does not have a vaccination mandate in place for players, but it will respect the US government’s position regarding travel into the country for unvaccinated non-US citizens,” the statement read.
While speaking to La Repubblica recently, Djokovic's coach, Goran Ivanisevic, voiced that the World No. 6 was trying his best to ensure his presence at the final slam of the season.
"Novak will do everything to be there, maybe he will get a special visa. But there are only two weeks. And, personally, I have zero hope that [Joe] Biden will change the rules before the tournament starts," he said.
Djokovic, who won the Canadian Masters four times in 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2016, is set to be replaced by Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in the main draw.
Novak Djokovic was infamously deported from Australia earlier this year
In January 2022, the then World No. 1 Novak Djokovic arrived in Australia to defend his 2021 Australian Open title only to be sent packing right before he was set to play his first-round match against compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic.
Djokovic entered Melbourne on the basis of a medical exemption. In his claim, he said that he had contracted Covid-19 just weeks prior.
The Australian government did not find his proposition valid enough, and he was deported. This ideally means that the nine-time Australian Open champion is prohibited from entering the country for up to three years.
As a result, Djokovic's participation in the 2023 edition of the event remains uncertain along with his US Open participation this year.