Novak Djokovic has 'possible pathways' to outmaneuver US COVID vaccine requirements, says leading tennis journalist

Novak Djokovic’s 2023 campaign, which commenced in Adelaide, saw its first setback with respect to his chances of participating in the upcoming US tournaments.

It was announced on Wednesday that the US Transportation Security Administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which was supposed to be relaxed on January 8, was extended until April 10, 2023.

The update is set to affect Djokovic’s likelihood of contesting the Indian Wells Masters (to be held from March 8-19) and the Miami Open (to be held from March 22-April 2).

However, it has been widely suggested that the mandate, which focuses on non-citizens traveling to the country by air, may have some loopholes. Most recently, leading tennis journalist Jon Wertheim hinted that the Serb may be able to implement certain pathways to circumvent the situation, without explicitly mentioning the possible scenarios.

The journalist further suggested that the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), founded by Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in 2019, could take the initiative to guide the 21-time Grand Slam champion.

"There are, I am told, possible exemption pathways here. The PTPA has an opportunity to score an early win," Wertheim said.

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"I think there's a lot of legal challenges along the way" – Novak Djokovic on the progress of the PTPA

Novak Djokovic is a 21-time Grand Slam champion.

While it remains to be seen whether the Novak Djokovic-founded PTPA will aid the unvaccinated Serb in improving his chances of playing in the US, the 35-year-old recently gave a deeper insight into the workings of the PTPA and revealed the challenges faced by his association due to being disfavored by the ATP and WTA.

"I think there's a lot of legal challenges along the way. We managed to overcome all those challenges, and we are gathering the right team of people with advisory board, people that are going to help with financing the association," he said.

"Of course, people from the tennis world that will help us establish ourselves within the ecosystem, which I think is very important as we were not accepted and embraced by Grand Slams, ATP nor WTA, so it makes things difficult for us, but this association needs to live," he added.

Despite the challenges faced, Djokovic voiced that he was determined to make the association more mainstream for the players.

"It needs to be there because players don't have 100 percent representation in the tennis world, unfortunately. With the association, they have that," he said.

"Hopefully more players will be showing the willingness to understand what PTPA can do for them," he added. "It's a process that will take a longer time just because we are not getting credibility from other governing bodies, so it will take longer, but we'll stay there, and it's something that hopefully can stay for many decades to come."