Djokovic confirms Dubai participation, still hoping to play Indian Wells and Miami

Novak Djokovic held a press conference on Wednesday in Belgrade to cover a wide range of topics, but mainly to discuss his upcoming schedule. The top-ranked Serb will play next week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. He also hopes to make appearances at upcoming Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami.

That doesn’t seem likely, however. United States government officials announced last month that the country will end its emergency Covid-19 measures on May 11. On that date unvaccinated foreigners will be able to travel to the USA–which means Djokovic can freely enter the country later this year and participate in the U.S. Open beginning in late August. But unless something changes in the next two weeks or the 35-year-old is granted an exemption, he won’t be in Indian Wells or Miami.

“Everything is currently in the process,” Djokovic said. “I have a big desire to be [at the two Masters 1000s]. I am really thankful to the Indian Wells and Miami tournament [officials] and community for their support publicly, and they would like me to be able to play in their tournaments.”

Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas recently expressed his desire to welcome Djokovic to the desert.

“It would be nice to see if we could maybe lift those a little earlier and have him come to play Indian Wells and Miami,” Haas commented. “I think he wants to play, so we should give him the chance. Hopefully we can have him there.”

As it stands now, Djokovic’s last tournament prior to the clay-court swing will be Dubai. The Serb confirmed that the hamstring issue that briefly troubled him during his run to the Australian Open title is no longer a problem, so he is good to go for next week’s 500. The Dubai field also features Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Hubert Hurkacz, Daniil Medvedev, and Andy Murray.

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