What the Indian Wells Masters draw looks like after Novak Djokovic's withdrawal
Novak Djokovic has confirmed that he will not participate in the Indian Wells and Miami Masters this month.
The Serb's participation in both tournaments was always doubtful due to the vaccine mandate for foreign arrivals. Despite that, Djokovic was included in the draw for the Indian Wells Masters as he had not officially announced his withdrawal.
However, the 34-year-old confirmed on Wednesday that he will not be flying to the United States.
"While I was automatically listed in the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open draw I knew it would be unlikely I’d be able to travel. The CDC has confirmed that regulations won’t be changing so I won't be able to play in the US. Good luck to those playing in these great tournaments," the Serb wrote on Twitter.
While I was automatically listed in the @BNPPARIBASOPEN and @MiamiOpen draw I knew it would be unlikely I’d be able to travel. The CDC has confirmed that regulations won’t be changing so I won't be able to play in the US. Good luck to those playing in these great tournaments 👊
The official Twitter page of the BNP Paribas Open has announced that Grigor Dimitrov will take the 34-year-old Serb's spot in the draw while a lucky loser will move into the Bulgarian's place once the qualifiers are over.
Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the BNP Paribas Open. As the next player in line to be seeded, Grigor Dimitrov will move into Djokovic's space in the draw, and a Lucky Loser from qualifying will move into Dimitrov’s space in the draw once qualifying is complete.
#IndianWells
Dimitrov will face either Jordan Thompson or David Goffin in the second round of the tournament with the possibility of meeting Andy Murray or Alexander Bublik in the third round.
Novak Djokovic has played only one tournament in 2022
So far, Djokovic has featured in only one tournament this year. The 20-time Grand Slam champion competed at the Dubai Tennis Championships as the top seed and reached the quarterfinals following wins over Lorenzo Musetti and Karen Khachanov. However, he was beaten by Jiri Vesely in the last eight, thus losing his No. 1 ranking to Daniil Medvedev.
The 34-year-old is yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and this could see him miss a number of tournaments on the ATP tour. However, his chances of competing at Roland Garros have received a major boost, with the French government lifting its policy of COVID-19 vaccination passes.
With Djokovic not competing in Indian Wells and Miami, it will be interesting to see what his next tournament will be. With the French vaccine rules being scrapped, the Serb might feature in next month's Monte-Carlo Masters event. He is also likely to play in the Belgrade Open in mid-April.