Florida senator announces Djokovic has been denied US waiver, calls on Biden to intervene

Rick Scott, currently a Republican Party senator in Florida who was governor of that state between 2011 and 2019, has announced that Novak Djokovic has been denied a waiver to enter the United States to play in the Indian Wells and Miami Masters 1000.

Scott has requested by letter the direct mediation of president Joe Biden to allow the world no.1, who is the only member of the men's and women's top 100 who has ruled out the option of being vaccinated against the coronavirus, to enter the country.

Marco Rubio, another senator from Florida, is on the same page as his colleague Scott and has also signed the same letter to Biden.

"We are writing to urge you to grant the requested waiver, which is necessary to allow Mr Djokovic to compete in the Miami Open professional tennis tournament to be held in our state of Florida beginning March 19, 2023," the message reads.

Time is ticking away and the draw for the Indian Wells draw, the first TMS of the season, is on Monday 6 March at 15:00 local time.

Djokovic has already warned that he would not wait for the pairings to be drawn to withdraw from the tournament and that he would do so earlier if his request for access to the United States was not accepted.

The Serb asked for special permission to play the first American hard court tour, which he already missed in 2022. He was also subsequently unable to play in Montreal, Cincinnati and the US Open.

The United States will not allow foreigners not vaccinated against Covid to cross its borders until 11 May.

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