- Saturday, May 18, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
While the circumstances were the same seven months ago when Novak Djokovic landed in legal trouble in Australia where he went to play the Australian Open without having taken the Covid-19 shot, the outcome is quite different in the US Open which was set to kick off on Monday (29).
Unlike in the case of the Australian Open, Djokovic announced beforehand that he would not go to the US to play the final Grand Slam tournament of the year and it generated more sympathy for the tennis maestro who is looking for his 22nd Grand Slam crown.
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“Unfortunately, this time I won’t be able to go to New York for the US Open. Thanks to NoleFam for all the messages of love and support. Good luck to my mates! I will keep in good shape and with a positive spirit I will wait for an opportunity to compete again. See you soon, the world of tennis!” Djokovic announced.
Sadly, I will not be able to travel to NY this time for US Open. Thank you #NoleFam for your messages of love and support. ❤️ Good luck to my fellow players! I’ll keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again. 💪🏼 See you soon tennis world! 👋🏼
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) August 25, 2022
It was quite a masterstroke by Djokovic. By not actually landing the US, he made himself a major headline and apart from the tennis world, even America’s politics has found itself divided over the issue.
Republican senator Ted Cruz reacted to Djokovic’s tweet saying, “This is idiotic”.
This is idiotic. https://t.co/4YbUhAdAvO
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 25, 2022
The lawmaker from the state of Texas has posted more than one tweet on Djokovic in recent months to push Washington to change its stance and used the slogan: “Let Novak Play”.
#LetNovakPlay 🎾 https://t.co/kOpaBeVG3T
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 25, 2022
He also supported radio journalist Travis Clay’s recent talk in which he backed Djokovic saying he gave up chances of winning at least two major trophies by standing firm on his principle of not taking the vaccine.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 28, 2022
The organisers of the US Open has also published a statement on the Djokovic issue saying it was a “real shame” that the champion player would be not able to take part in the 2022 edition of the prestigious tournament because of his inability to enter the US because of the federal government’s vaccination policy for non-Americans.
A statement from the US Open: pic.twitter.com/E5ijwpkKjS
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 25, 2022
US tennis player Taylor Fritz called Djokovic the best player in the world at the moment and would be a clear favourite to win the US Open if he was allowed to play.
“[Without Djokovic] it’s the most spread out everyone’s chance of winning are for a long, long time, and honestly I think that makes it more exciting than ever,” he said.
“I think there was a long period where it was just basically [Roger] Federer, [Novak] Djokovic, [Rafael] Nadal, [Andy] Murray and it was always going to be one of those guys. I think now times are changing a bit, there’s no one that’s overly dominant right now so I feel like anyone between 10 people could win the tournament,” he said.
