Coach Goran Ivanisevic insists that concerns over whether unvaccinated Novak Djokovic would be allowed into the US for the Indian Wells Masters were behind his weekend semi-final loss in Dubai.
The anti-vaxx Serb world No. 1 went down in straight sets in the emirate to Daniil Medvedev, who went on to win the title.
“I felt like he (Djokovic) wasn’t mentally present the way he should have been,’ former Wimbledon winner Ivanisevic told Tennis Majors.
‘Namely, I think he was affected by everything that was going on regarding the exemption to come to the United States.
‘He gave away a lot of points in that match. When playing against Medvedev, you need to be patient and ready to play for 300 days if that’s what it takes, and Novak was impatient.’
Djokovic is all but certain to sit out this month on court, missing the Indian Wells and Miami Masters over the next four weeks.
But American right-wing politicians are trying to score points by advancing the case that the non-jabbed player should somehow be allowed to cross the US border in spite of a prohibition not set to end until May.
The Florida governor has proposed letting the vaccination renegade travel by boat to Miami, thereby slipping through an entry loophole.
The stunt is aimed at the presidency of Joe Biden, a mortal enemy of the right-win fringe in the country.
