Novak Djokovic waits to find out if he will be able to play in the US Open, despite not having been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Photo: ELVIS BARUKCIC / AFP.
While the ATP has formalized the second part of its calendar with the cancellation of the four tournaments scheduled in China – including the Shanghai Masters 1000 – and the incorporation of six ATP 250s with a one-year license (i.e. insured only for this season), the organizers of Flushing Meadows, the latest Grand Slam, are starting to receive increasing pressure to Novak Djokovic I can play in New York. It is known: the recent Serbian Wimbledon champion cannot enter the United States due to his decision not to get vaccinated.
And many powerful voices rise in their favor every day. Nothing less than John McEnroe he said: “We have to find a way for Novak Djokovic to be able to play the US Open.”
Beyond agreeing or disagreeing with that determination that prevented him, for example, from playing in Australia at the start of the year, the Flushing Meadows thing is hard to understand why unvaccinated American players will be able to participate on hard courts. National Center Billie Jean King, tennis player. But not Djokovic.
Another nonsense: in the 2021 edition of the tournament the vaccine was mandatory for the public but not for tennis players; in 2022 it will be mandatory for players (excluding clubs) and not for spectators.
The coronavirus is not over, but it is clear that the global health situation is not what it was two years ago, nor was it last year. Flushing Meadows will begin five weeks and there is time to correct their protocols. Beyond the responsibility that Djokovic has in this story, tennis cannot allow one of his “legends” (as McEnroe himself defined it) not to play one of his most important tournaments.
Mariano Ryan
Source: Clarin
