Novak Djokovic Drops To No. 7 In World Despite Wimbledon Win; Uncertain Of Status For U.S. Open

One day after winning his fourth straight Wimbledon title and 21st major championship against Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic dropped to No. 7 in the world rankings.

The move had been expected and was triggered by the ATP not awarding ranking points to Wimbledon after the tournament banned Russian and Belarusian players following the invasion of Ukraine.

Rafael Nadal, who won the year’s first two majors at the Australian and French Opens to get to 22 major titles but pulled out of Wimbledon ahead of his semifinal with Kyrgios due to an abdominal injury, is ranked No. 3. Roger Federer, who has not played since Wimbledon in 2021 due to a knee injury, is unranked for the first time since 1997.

Djokovic also does not expect to play the U.S. Open beginning Aug. 29 unless the vaccination restrictions to enter the U.S. are eased or he is given a medical exemption.

“I’m not vaccinated and I’m not planning to get vaccinated so the only good news I can have is them removing the mandated green vaccine card or whatever you call it to enter United States or exemption,” Djokovic said Sunday. “I don’t know. I don’t think exemption is realistically possible. If that is possibility, I don’t know what exemption would be about.

“I don’t know. I don’t have much answers there.”

John McEnroe slammed U.S. restrictions on Djokovic’s ability to play the U.S. Open.

“These politicians are getting in the way too much,” McEnroe said on ESPN after the final. “They did it in Australia. Let’s let the guy come in and play in the U.S. I mean, come on. This is ridiculous.”

Djokovic trails Nadal 22-21 in the all-time men’s major count and could still wind up with the most ever. Before his refusal to get vaccinated, it had been widely expected that Djokovic would wind up with somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-26 majors — former world No. 1 Jim Courier said Djokovic can compete for major titles until he’s 40 — but his opportunities to win titles have dwindled.

It’s possible Djokovic won’t play another major until the French Open in 2023. He faces a three-year ban from the Australian Open after having been deported ahead of the tournament in January, although that ban could end early.

Nadal’s status for the U.S. Open is also in question given his recent injury.

World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev was unable to play Wimbledon becasue of the ban on Russians, but is expected to defend his title in New York, where he spoiled Djokovic’s bid for a calendar Grand Slam last year.

“It’s not a secret that I’m trying to win as many Slams as possible,” Djokovic has said. “It’s obvious that history is on the line.”