Novak Djokovic: Is he playing Indian Wells? When will a decision be made? Will he miss Miami Open?
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Published 03/03/2023 at 22:45 GMT
Will Novak Djokovic play Indian Wells? When will a decision be made? Will Djokovic miss other tournaments as he is unvaccinated? Will he lose world No. 1 spot ranking if he doesn't play Indian Wells and the Miami Open? Djokovic is still waiting to hear if he can play the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, which starts on Wednesday, March 8.
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Novak Djokovic’s hopes of playing Indian Wells and the Miami Open remain up in the air with under a week to go until the former starts.
World No. 1 Djokovic has not played either ATP Masters 1000 event since 2019, and is currently not able to enter the United States as he is unvaccinated against Covid-19.
But as Djokovic continues to wait to hear whether the US government will allow him to enter the country without being vaccinated, what are the chances of him playing Indian Wells? And if he misses out when will he play next? And could he miss other Masters and Grand Slams this year?
The United States Tennis Association and US Open said on Friday that they are "hopeful" Djokovic will be successful in his petition to enter the United States for the upcoming events.
Will Djokovic play Indian Wells?
Djokovic’s participation at Indian Wells is still unknown.
The tournament starts on March 8 and as it stands Djokovic is not allowed to travel to the US, which at the moment is the only country on the ATP Tour that requires international travellers to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
The current US entry regulations are set to be lifted on May 11.
Djokovic is on the entry list for Indian Wells and has reportedly applied for an exemption to travel to the US without being vaccinated. It has also been reported that Indian Wells and Miami Open organisers have made “strong pleas” to the US government to allow Djokovic in.
Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas has said Djokovic’s “situation is obviously frustrating for us”.
“We want the best tennis player in the world to be here. He’s writing me, he wants to be here,” Haas told the New York Times.
“So of course, you’re like, OK, let’s try to make this happen. How can we figure this out that’s going to be realistic? But at the end of the day, unfortunately, that’s not in our hands and that’s what’s frustrating.”
Djokovic missed large chunks of the 2022 season due to being unvaccinated.
He didn’t play the Australian Open, Indian Wells or the Miami Open, and then missed the North American hard-court summer, including the US Open and back-to-back Masters events.
When will a decision be made?
It has been reported by the Times that a decision on Djokovic’s participation will likely come over the weekend.
Djokovic lost in the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships to Daniil Medvedev on Friday. The final takes place on Saturday.
Djokovic is 15-1 in 2023 and enjoying one of his best-ever starts to a season.
When is the Indian Wells draw?
The draw for Indian Wells will take place on Monday, March 6.
Qualifying for the tournament starts on March 6 and the main draw for the ATP and WTA events starts on Wednesday, March 8.
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Will Djokovic miss any other events?
As it stands it looks as though Djokovic will be able to play the rest of the season.
The US regulations requiring international travellers to be vaccinated look set to end on May 11, which would mean Djokovic can return to play the US Open in the summer, as well as the Canadian Open and Western & Southern Open.
There are no restrictions to prevent him playing throughout the European clay season or the grass season, so he will be free to play the French Open and Wimbledon.
The first big event of the clay season is the Monte-Carlo Masters which starts on April 9.
Who else is playing Indian Wells?
Rafael Nadal has confirmed he will not be competing as he continues to recover from injury while Roger Federer will also not be there as he retired last September at the Laver Cup.
World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz would be the top seed in Djokovic’s absence as long as he is fit after pulling out of the Mexican Open this week due to injury.
Alcaraz has a chance to finish Indian Wells as world No. 1 after Djokovic was beaten in the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Alcaraz made the semis in Indian Wells last year so can gain a maximum of 640 additional ranking points this time around if he wins the title. He can also gain 240 for finishing as runner-up, but Djokovic will start next week 380 points ahead, so Alcaraz needs to win the title to get to No. 1.
If Alcaraz doesn't get to No. 1 in Indian Wells then he can't after the Miami Open as he is defending champion there so has no points to gain.
World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas could be in contention to get to No. 1 for the first time as he only has 135 points to defend across the two events.
Tsitsipas will be 1,355 points behind Djokovic next week.
What's the prize money at Indian Wells?
The prize money at the tournament is the same for men and women.
The winner of the event will earn $1,262,220 (£1.05m), the runner-up will get $662,360 (£551,507), the semi-finalists get $352,635 (£293,618) and the quarter-finalists $184,465 (£153,592).
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