Tennis-Djokovic to miss Miami Open over vaccine status

FILE PHOTO: ATP 500 - Dubai Tennis Championships - The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates - March 3, 2023 Serbia's Novak Djokovic during his semi final match against Russia's Daniil Medvedev REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

(Reuters) -Novak Djokovic will miss next week's Miami Open after the Serbian was denied an exemption that would have allowed him to enter the U.S. despite not being vaccinated against COVID-19, tournament director James Blake said on Friday.

"We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen," Blake told Tennis Channel.