I don’t regret missing Indian Wells Open – Novak Djokovic

• Novak Djokovic has no remorse at all for missing the Indian Wells Open
• However, he is more focused on playing at the US Open this year
• The US government is currently not allowing unvaccinated foreigners to enter the US

Novak Djokovic has no remorse at all for missing the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open in the US following his no-vaccination status against Covid-19.

However, he is now thinking of the 2023 US Open which he says that he would love to be a part of.  The US government is not allowing any unvaccinated foreigner to enter the US until May 2023 when it puts to an end its Covid emergency declarations.

Djokovic unsuccessfully petitioned the US authorities to allow him to compete in Indian Wells and Miami Open on a medical exemption.

His absence at Indian Wells saw Spaniard teen Carlos Alcaraz win the open and returned to world No.1 which Djokovic took after winning the Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic. Photo/SBNation.com

He told CNN that he stands by his decisions in life and has no regrets at all.

“I have no regrets. I’ve learned through life that regrets only hold you back and basically make you live in the past,” said the Serbian.

He added “I don’t want to do that. I also don’t want to live too much in the future. I want to be as much as in the present moment but of course think about future, create a better future. So I congratulate Alcaraz. He absolutely deserves to come back to No 1.”

The 22-time Grand Slam champion expressed regret for failing to compete in the US, where he says he achieved great success and won three Grand Slams.

Admittedly, it doesn’t sting as much because he says he made a deliberate decision not to get the Covid-19 shot which pushed him to the possibility of being locked out of US tournaments.

Still, he is hopeful he will make it to the US Open in August.

“It’s the current state or current situation that I hope will change for later this year, for the US Open. That’s the most important tournament for me on American soil,” he further stated.

Nevertheless, the Serb claimed that his missing the Indian Wells will not end his love for tennis. It only gave him a chance to work on personal projects.

Novak Djokovic. Photo/Forbes

His resolve and integrity still remain intact even with everything that’s happening. Djokovic missed the Indian Wells Open for the second time in a row.

Tournament organisers confirmed that Djokovic withdrew from this year’s event due to his unvaccinated status against Covid-19.

The Serbian had petitioned the US government for a medical exemption to play in the Sunshine Double since he was already included on the entrance lists for the Miami Open and Indian Wells Open.

Tommy Haas, the Indian Wells chief said that it would be terrible to deny Djokovic entry this year. The United States Tennis Association and the US Open both publicly backed his application to the US government for a medical exemption.

Unfortunately, he will not compete in the ATP Masters 1000 event in California. Djokovic’s team is yet to confirm that he withdrew from the Florida tournament.

Djokovic is a six-time Indian Wells champion and last played in 2019 since the tournament was shut off in 2020.