Novak Djokovic still not permitted to enter U.S., won't play Miami Open, says tournament director James Blake

Six-time champion Novak Djokovic will not compete in this year’s Miami Open, tournament director James Blake confirmed Friday in an interview on Tennis Channel. (Watch in full above.)

“Obviously, we’re one of the premier tournaments in the world, we’d like to have the best players that can play,” said Blake. “We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that’s out of our hands.

“Same result that he had in Indian Wells, where I know [fellow tournament director] Tommy Haas did as much as he could. We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen.

Djokovic, seen here at the 2019 Miami Open, won his very first Masters tournament in South Florida in 2007. He's won it five more times since.

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Djokovic won Miami five times between 2011 and 2016, but since then has never advanced beyond the Masters tournament’s fourth round. He withdrew from the event in 2017; it wasn’t held in 2020, due to the pandemic; and he opted out in 2021 to spend time with family amid travel restrictions. Djokovic's unvaccinated status has now kept him away for two years running.

“We’d love to have him, and he’s our greatest champion,” said Blake. “Unfortunately, that’s way above my pay grade.”