Revealed: Novak Djokovic’s full financial loss after Covid vaccine decision
Novak Djokovic will miss the upcoming Miami Open and now the full cost of his decision to avoid taking a Covid-19 vaccine can be revealed.
This is likely to be the final event Djokovic will miss due to his decision to side-step the global vaccine programme, with his deportation from Australia at the start of 2022 a sign of what was to come.
Djokovic missed all events in America last year, including four ATP Masters events and the US Open.
That cost him his status at the top of the ATP rankings, with his return to the pinnacle of the game in January coming after he won the Australian Open.
He is in danger of losing the No 1 spot again after he failed in his efforts to get an exemption to enter America and play at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters, despite appeals from the tournament directors urging US authorities to grant Djokovic an exemption to compete.
Those calls fell on deaf ears and now we can reveal how much money Djokovic has missed out on due to his vaccine decision.
Now the full financial cost of his absence from the eight tournaments he has missed since the start of 2022 can be revealed.
Djokovic would have been expected to reach the latter stages of all the competitions he has been barred from competing in, with the prize money he missed out on following his removal from Australia in January 2022 denying him a chance to compete for a huge prize money cheque.
While he may not have won all eight events he has missed, Djokovic has lost out on the chance to compete for a big money winners’ cheque at all these events:
Australian 2022 – $1.93m
Indian Wells 2022 – $1.23m
Miami 2022 – $1.23m
Canadian Open 2022 – $915,295
Cincinatti Masters 2022 – $970,020
US Open – $2.6m
Australian 2023 – $1.99m
Indian Wells 2023 – $1.26m
Miami 2023 – $1.26m
Djokovic would have been a strong favorite to lift the title in all eight of those tournaments and if he had remained unbeaten over the events, he would have taken home prize money of $13.38m.
He has also missed out on a potential 11,000 ATP ranking points and his options to play in alternative tournaments away from America have also been limited.
The major events Djokovic has missed carry a gravitas that ensures there are no other major tournaments during those weeks.
It means the best player in the game has been forced to spend several weeks away from competitive action, but there is a theory that his latest break may help him later in 2023.
“He can be fresh for the clay-court season, he can be more fresh for the French Open,” former world No 1 Mats Wilander told Eurosport.
“He’s already No. 1 in the world. He’s already broken all the records when it comes to No. 1. So what difference does it make if he wins another Indian Wells or Miami?
“He doesn’t have to deal with the problem of confidence. Most players do. Novak Djokovic seems to not need a lot of confidence to just walk back into the circle of champions and start winning again.
“So I think that on clay it’d be great for him. He’s going to have a better preparation season. He needs to win the French Open for sure because I think this might be his last chance at the Calendar Grand Slam.
“I really feel like that’s in his wheelhouse. I was surprised that he didn’t do it a couple of years ago and I’ll be surprised again because watching him play at Australian Open, there is no backing off.
“He’s not getting worse, he’s not getting older. In fact, he’s just getting better. So to me, the less tennis he plays, the better it is for him to win majors.
“He’s proven that he must have a great situation at home because he comes when he’s fresh, he’s so good, he’s not as frustrated, he plays as well. In fact, he plays more aggressively. So I think it’s a plus.”
READ MORE: Final decision is made on Novak Djokovic’s bid to play in Miami
