Novak Djokovic is still currently not able to compete in the US Open later this month due to the travel restrictions in the country, which his coach Goran Ivanisevic has labelled as ‘bull****’. The player has revealed that he is training with the intention of competing, but his coach is not holding out much hope.
The US Open provides Djokovic with the opportunity to match Rafael Nadal’s record of having the most Grand Slams (21), having won at Wimbledon earlier this summer. However, the Serbian is still not vaccinated and therefore there are restraints on which countries he can enter.
Joe Biden has ruled that non-American citizens cannot enter the country without receiving all of their jabs, though he is being put under pressure to relax those rules. Some believe that the president needs to act quickly to ensure Djokovic can participate.
But Ivanisevic does not believe that Biden will give in. He told Italian news outlet La Repubblica: “Novak will do everything to be there, maybe he will get a special visa… but there are only two weeks.
“Personally, I have zero hope that [US President Joe] Biden will change the rules before the tournament starts. For me, it is all nonsense and bull****. If you are vaccinated but (test) positive you can enter the United States.
“If you are not vaccinated but negative, you are banned. There is too much politics in sports.” Djokovic has insisted that he will continue his preparation for the tournament in hope that rules change in time for the 29th of August when the competition begins.
There have been several petitions protesting for Djokovic to be able to play, and he thanked those supporters in a recent Instagram post, writing: “I just wanted to take a moment and say to all of you how grateful I am to see so many messages of support and love from all around the world these days.
“I wasn’t expecting it, and that’s why it feels so mind blowing. Just wanted to say THANK YOU. It feels special that people connect with my tennis career in such a loving and supportive way and wish for me to continue to compete. I am preparing as if I will be allowed to compete, while I await to hear if there is any room for me to travel to the US. Fingers crossed!”
