Serbian Novak Djokovic did not receive the necessary exemption to enter the United States without a vaccine against the coronavirus, so he will miss the Masters-1000 in Miami, tournament director James Blake said.

“We are one of the best tournaments in the world and we would like the best players to be able to compete. We did everything we could. We’ve tried to talk to the government, but there’s nothing we can do,” Blake said in an interview broadcast by the Tennis Channel.

“The same thing happened with Indian Wells. I know (director) Tommy Haas did his best. We tried to get Djokovic sent off, but it didn’t work.”

The tournament in Miami will be held from March 19 to April 2 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

Djokovic is on the list of preliminary entries, but his participation has been suspended due to US rules requiring non-citizens and non-residents to provide a certificate of vaccination against the coronavirus.

Djokovic does not meet this requirement because of his refusal to be vaccinated, which prevented him from participating in US tournaments last year, including the US Open.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) extended from January 8 to April 10 the obligation to present a certificate of full vaccination against the coronavirus for non-citizens and out-of-town visitors.

In 2022, the Serb failed to play at the Australian Open and did not participate in the American tour, both at the beginning of the campaign, in Indian Wells and in Miami, and in the summer, except for Washington, Montreal and Cincinnati. a “big” resident of New York.