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Rafa Nadal said it was sad news that his great rival Novak Djokovic will be missing from the U.S. Open, adding that the absence of a player of the Serbian’s calibre was an important miss for the hardcourt Grand Slam.
Djokovic, who won Wimbledon to take his major singles titles to 21, has opted not to be vaccinated against COVID-19. He said on Thursday he could not fly to New York for the year’s final Grand Slam.
Rules require travelers to show proof of vaccination to board flights to enter the United States.
“From my personal perspective, it’s very sad news,” Nadal, who leads the men’s Grand Slam race with 22 titles, told reporters on Friday.
“It’s always a shame when the best players of the world are not able to play a tournament because of injuries or because of different reasons.
“In this case, not having one of the best players of the history in the draw of Grand Slam is always an important miss, no?”
The 35-year-old Djokovic was also unable to play the Australian Open at the start of the year after being deported from Melbourne over his vaccination status just ahead of the tournament.
