Novak Djokovic cannot compete at the hard-court tennis tournaments in Indian Wells, California, or Miami because he is unvaccinated and can’t travel to the United States. The 20-time grand slam champion tweeted on Thursday that the Centres for Disease Control “confirmed the regulations won’t be changing so I won’t be able to play in the US”. Djokovic, who recently dropped to No 2 in the world, has played in only one tournament so far in 2022 because he has refused to get a Covid-19 vaccination. He was deported from Australia in January and was not allowed to try to defend his title at Melbourne Park. While I was automatically listed in the @BNPPARIBASOPEN and @MiamiOpen draw I knew it would be unlikely I’d be able to travel. The CDC has confirmed that regulations won’t be changing so I won't be able to play in the US. Good luck to those playing in these great tournaments 👊 — Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) March 9, 2022 Rafael Nadal wound up winning the Australian Open for his 21st major trophy, breaking a tie with Djokovic and Roger Federer for the most claimed by a man in the history of tennis. In April 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic raged, Djokovic said he was opposed to needing to be vaccinated to travel. In June of that year, with professional tennis on hiatus, he organised a series of exhibition matches in Serbia and Croatia with no rules requiring social distancing or masking — a tour that was called off after some players, including the 34-year-old Serbian, got Covid-19. His name was put in the draw for the BNP Paribas Open in California on Wednesday, even though his status was up in the air because the US has been requiring foreign visitors to be vaccinated to enter the country. In addition, the tournament had previously announced that everyone on-site at Indian Wells would need to be fully inoculated. “While I was automatically listed in the @BNPPARIBASOPEN and @MiamiOpen draw,” Djokovic wrote on Wednesday. “I knew it would be unlikely I’d be able to travel.” Indian Wells is being played this week, and the Miami Open starts on March 21. No-vax Djokovic says he would rather skip grand slams than get jab It has been a turbulent start to 2022 for Djokovic, who went through detention and a court case during an 11-day saga in Australia before he was sent home. During the legal back-and-forth, Djokovic said he wasn’t vaccinated and thought he should get a medical exemption to rules requiring the shots because, he said, he tested positive for Covid-19 again in December. He also said he attended an in-person interview with a reporter despite having that result. In February, Djokovic said in an interview that he would not get vaccinated, even if he needs to be in order to participate in events such as the French Open or Wimbledon.