Novak Djokovic. Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Novak Djokovic not getting vaccinated, set to skip US Open

By Chelena Goldman | Last updated 7/11/22

Novak Djokovic is fresh off of his fourth straight Wimbledon victory, but he won't be keeping the competitive streak going as he announced shortly after the win that he will not compete in the US Open because of the country's COVID-19 restrictions.

"I'm not vaccinated and I'm not planning to get vaccinated so the only good news I can have is them removing the mandated green vaccine card or whatever you call it to enter United States or exemption," Djokovic said Sunday, via ESPN. "I don't know. I don't think exemption is realistically possible. If that is possibility, I don't know what exemption would be about."

"I'm not #vaccinated and I'm not planning to get vaccinated"

Novak #Djokovic Reaffirms His Stance on the #COVID19 'Vaccine'

Willing to Forego Playing @usopen pic.twitter.com/6aKFvae74F
— Terrance Wishart (@ravbasil) July 11, 2022

The Serbian tennis star has made just as many headlines for his stance on not getting vaccinated as he has for his tennis skills this last year. He was kept from entering Australia twice and unable to compete in the Australian Open because he is unvaccinated and didn't have a proper medical exemption. His continued refusal to get vaccinated has become a polarizing topic in the sports world, with there being a large divide between parties who think he should be able to play regardless and those who don't think Djokovic should get a pass for being a famous athlete.

As it stands, there is no word yet on when Djokovic will compete next.

"I am on vacation," Djokovic said. "Whether or not I'm playing any tournament soon, I'll definitely be resting for the next couple weeks because it has been quite an exhausting and demanding period for me the last few months. A lot of tennis, which I was very happy about. I got what I wanted here.

"Then I'll wait hopefully for some good news from USA because I would really love to go there. That would be probably the next big tournament, the next big swing, playing a tournament or two before US Open and US Open. If that doesn't happen, then I have to see what the schedule will look like."

Djokovic's status in the world rankings will fall since he will not compete in the US Open. That tournament takes place in New York starting on August 29.

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