US Open ‘very hopeful’ unvaccinated Novak Djokovic can play Unvaccinated Djokovic can’t travel to US, out of Miami Open Rybakina routs Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 to reach Indian Wells final

After Novak Djokovic withdrew from tournaments in Florida and California as he is still unable to travel to the United States as a foreign citizen not vaccinated against COVID-19, a US Tennis Association spokesman said on Saturday that the group is “very hopes to win. The ranked player will be allowed into the country for the US Open in August.

“Policy regarding access to the United States is determined by the White House. We very much hope that the policy banning Novak Djokovic from entering the United States will be lifted or expunged in the near future,” USTA’s Chris Widmayer wrote in an interview with The Associated Press. “There are no restrictions on any player, fan or other visitor at the US Open due to COVID-19. Novak, one of our sport’s greatest champions, could compete in the 2023 US Open.”

The two-week US Open kicks off at Flushing Meadows on August 28.

Djokovic, a 35-year-old Serbian national, was unable to make it to New York for the final Grand Slam of the season in 2022, when he also missed the Miami Open and the BNP Paribas Open because he was never vaccinated against the coronavirus disease. .

Six-time Miami Open champion Djokovic will be out of the tournament starting next week, a Miami Open spokesman said Saturday.

Djokovic is No. 1 in the ATP rankings and is tied with Rafael Nadal, who is also injured and out of Miami, for 22 Grand Slam titles, a record for most men won. In 2023, Djokovic is 15-1 with two titles, including the Australian Open in January.

But now he will miss the first two Masters 1000 events of the season. He also withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, which ends this weekend.

Back in April 2020, as the pandemic raged, Djokovic said he was against having to get vaccinated before traveling. He later said he would not get vaccinated, even if it meant missing tournaments.

In January 2022, he tried to get permission to play in the Australian Open and traveled to Melbourne. But after his case went to trial, his visa was revoked and Djokovic was deported from the country.

Australia’s pandemic restrictions have since been eased, with Djokovic returning this year without issue and winning the first major championship of the season.

Meanwhile, Nadal was sidelined after injuring his left hip flexor during a second-round loss at Melbourne Park. He intends to return to action at the Monte Carlo Masters next month.

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida. Novak Djokovic again withdrew from the Miami Open because he still cannot travel to the United States as a foreign national who has not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Djokovic is out of the tournament starting next week, a tournament spokesman said on Saturday. The 35-year-old from Serbia has won the tournament six times, most recently in 2016.

Djokovic is No. 1 in the ATP rankings and is tied with Rafael Nadal, who is also injured and out of Miami, for 22 Grand Slam titles, a record for most men won. In 2023, Djokovic is 15-1 with two titles, including the Australian Open in January.

But now he will miss the first two Masters 1000 events of the season. He withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, which ends this weekend, because he could not enter the US without receiving any vaccinations for the coronavirus disease.

In 2022, Djokovic also missed trips to Indian Wells, Miami and the US Open.

Back in April 2020, as the pandemic raged, Djokovic said he was against having to get vaccinated before traveling. He later said he would not get vaccinated, even if it meant missing tournaments.

In January 2022, he tried to get permission to play in the Australian Open and traveled to Melbourne. But after his case went to trial, his visa was revoked and Djokovic was deported from the country.

Australia’s pandemic restrictions have since been eased, with Djokovic returning this year without issue and winning the first major championship of the season.

Meanwhile, Nadal was sidelined after injuring his left hip flexor during a second-round loss at Melbourne Park. He intends to return to action at the Monte Carlo Masters next month.

INDIAN WELLS, California. On Friday, Elena Rybakina scored seven aces to defeat world No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the BNP Paribas Open final.

“I am very sad that I lost,” Swiatek said.

Rybakina will play second seeded Arina Sobolenko, who beat Maria Sakkari 6:2, 6:3 in the Sunday final.

“It’s going to be huge,” said Sobalenko, who won the doubles title in 2019. This tournament is similar to the Grand Slam tournament. I really want to get this trophy as a singles champion.”

It took Rybakina just 76 minutes to finish off Swiatek, the reigning champion. She scored 82% of her first serve points while Swiatek only scored 42%. Rybakina also beat the Polish star at the Australian Open in January, finishing in second place.

“I didn’t expect to play so well today,” Rybakina said. “I had nothing to lose, I just wanted to come and enjoy. I had one of the best matches this year.”

Swiatek won 10 consecutive desert matches until she was stopped by Rybakina’s powerful ground shots that repeatedly dropped Swiatek and forced her to make uncharacteristic mistakes.

Swiatek made a double fault by losing the first set. She then lost 5–0 in the second before bouncing back and winning two games.

“I feel like I can play great tennis even against players who serve pretty fast and all that,” she said. “But of course the last couple of games against Elena weren’t perfect for me.”

Swiatek said that during the match she was worried about the rib.

“I still need to run some tests and see what happens. I don’t know yet,” she said, adding that she still plans to play next week in Miami.

Sobolenko, the Australian Open champion, improved her record to 17-1 this year.

She leads Rybakina 4-0 in her career meetings, but all four went to the decisive set, including the final Down Under.

“It was a very close match in Australia,” Rybakina said on the court. “If I play the way I do today, I think I have every chance.”

Sobolenko took control of Sakkari, seeded seventh, from the start. She attacked the Greek second serve, winning 20 out of 26 points from it. Sakkari, who finished second in last year’s final, lost 3-5 to Sobolenko in her career.

Sakkari reached the semi-finals by coming out of set three times to go 4–0 in the deciding sets.

But Sobolenko was too powerful. She won the last three games, including two service breaks, and took the first set 6-2.

Sobolenko took a 2-0 lead in the second before Sakkari equalized at 2-all. From there, Sobalenko won four of her last five games and finished the match in 1.5 hours.

“Now I’m just super happy,” Sobolenko said on the court. “Maria is such a great player and I knew it was going to be tough.”