Djokoviæ entered into a prestigious tournament. But he may have problems

is the leader of the ATP rankings, but the tennis player was unable to play at this year’s Australian Open. The saga of his participation in the tournament interested even people who were not interested in sports. The Serb intends to return to play at the Dubai party on February 21 and then perform at Indian Wells.

Novak Djoković was on the entry list for this year’s Indian Wells

The Serbian tennis player has already won five in Indian Wells. On Wednesday, February 9, the organizers published the list of applications for this year’s edition of the tournament. The list of names includes Novak Djokovi, and in addition to him, among others, (winner of this year’s Australian Open), Daniil Medvedev (AO finalist), Alexander Zverev and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.

And this time the 34-year-old’s performance will be at risk. In order to enter the U.S., foreigners must show their COVID-19 vaccination status. Only a few are an exception, but it is possible that, unlike Australians, Americans will treat the Serb leniently. In this matter, however, nothing is certain, especially when we read the announcement of the tournament organizers.

“The guidelines for players are governed by protocols established by the WTA and ATP, as well as restrictions adopted by the US government on vaccination of travelers to the US,” reads part of the announcement.

Indian Wells, or “fifth trick of the Grand Slam”

The hard court complex was opened in 2000. It consists of 21 ultra-modern courts, including the largest one with over 16,000 fans. Last year, the tournament’s prize pool was over $ 8 million.

Only participants, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open are paid that well. This is why the California tournament is called the “fifth trick of the Grand Slam”. Once upon a time, the Miami Open competition was called this.

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The event has the “Premier Mandatory” category only as are the competitions in Madrid, Miami and Beijing. The tournament on the Indian Wells courts has been organized since 1974, but only in the 21st century it gained in importance, and the past decade was a time of a significant increase in its rank.