Greg Rusedski, a former US Open finalist, finds it puzzling that Novak Djokovic, one of the greatest athletes ever to grace the sport, has missed two major tournaments this year.
Djokovic won his seventh Wimbledon Championship and his 21st major trophy at Wimbledon this year. With that, he closed the gap on Rafael Nadal, the male all-time leader, to just one title.
Due to his reluctance to take the COVID-19 vaccine, the Serb will not have the chance to catch up to Nadal at the US Open. All international visitors to the US are currently required to present confirmation of COVID-19 vaccination, which Djokovic did not have.
Rusedski lamented on the Serb's unfortunate series of events, saying it's unfortunate the former World No. 1 has been forced to miss two Slams this year.
"It just seems wrong not having the best player in the world missing two Slams this year."
While the Serb won the US Open only three times in his career, the Australian Open is an event that he managed to win nine times, and missing that, quite likely, decreased his total of trophies won, as he would have been the biggest favourite to win the title.
Although the tournament organizers and governing bodies of tennis couldn't do much to influence Djokovic's decision not to take the vaccine, as well as the country's decision to not allow him enter, but still, for tennis, it's very disappointing that he could not compete at two of the most important tournaments in the calendar.
Majors are what matters the most in the world of tennis, and 50% of those are the Australian Open and the US Open, tournaments, which Djokovic had to miss. Rusedski isn't the only former ATP player who thought that it's wrong, but at this point, there's nothing that could be changed.
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