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Djokovic Set to Miss US Events amid Tightened Vaccination Requirements 

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his first round match against France's Constant Lestienne at the ATP Adelaide International tournament in Adelaide on January 3, 2023. (AFP)
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his first round match against France's Constant Lestienne at the ATP Adelaide International tournament in Adelaide on January 3, 2023. (AFP)
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Djokovic Set to Miss US Events amid Tightened Vaccination Requirements 

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his first round match against France's Constant Lestienne at the ATP Adelaide International tournament in Adelaide on January 3, 2023. (AFP)
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his first round match against France's Constant Lestienne at the ATP Adelaide International tournament in Adelaide on January 3, 2023. (AFP)

Novak Djokovic is set to miss the Indian Wells and Miami Open ATP 1000 events this year if he remains unvaccinated against COVID-19, after United States authorities said non-nationals will need to have taken their shots to enter the country.  

A statement from the Transportation Security Administration on Wednesday said the requirement for foreign air travelers to be fully vaccinated against the disease would be in place until April 10.  

Indian Wells runs from March 6-19 and the Miami Open from March 20-April 2 and Djokovic risks missing the two important hardcourt tournaments if he does not take the vaccine. 

The 35-year-old Serb was unable to defend his Australian Open crown last year after being deported from that country on the eve of the hardcourt major due to his unvaccinated status.  

Djokovic, who has won 21 Grand Slam titles, was also not able to travel to New York for the 2022 US Open without proof of vaccination, the same reason that had forced him to miss tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami.  

The nine-times Australian Open champion is currently warming up for the 2023 season in Adelaide for the Jan. 16-29 Australian Open, after his three-year travel ban for the country was waived in November. 

That decision opened a path for him to target a 10th title at the Grand Slam and tie Rafa Nadal's mark of 22 majors.  

Djokovic, who previously stated he would miss Grand Slams rather than have the COVID vaccine, said last week that he would never forget how it felt to be deported from Australia but hoped to move on from the incident. 

"What happened 12 months ago wasn't easy to digest for some time but at the same time, I had to move on," Djokovic said last week in his first news conference since landing in Australia.  

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Lithuania’s Baciuška Wins Dakar Rally’s Longest Stage in Saudi Arabia

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)
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Lithuania’s Baciuška Wins Dakar Rally’s Longest Stage in Saudi Arabia

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)

Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuška proved he's a contender in the Dakar Rally when he won the longest stage in the Saudi Arabia desert on Monday.

Baciuška was 22 minutes off the lead starting the second half of the two-day, 967-kilometer second stage. But on the day's 341-kilometer drive back to Bisha, he finished within seven minutes of provisional winner Yazeed Al Rajhi, and hours later was promoted to stage winner.

Baciuška was given back time lost for faulty refueling, giving him the win by nearly three minutes over Al Rajhi. Juan Cruz Yacopini of Argentina was also promoted after the race to third, giving the Overdrive Racing team's Toyotas 1-2-3 on the stage.

Al Rajhi and Nasser Al-Attiyah's Dacia dueled over the entire stage, and were as close as 20 seconds apart. But at the finish they were penalized two and four minutes respectively for exceeding speed limits.

Baciuška's credentials aren't in dispute. He made the podium in his first three Dakars in the buggy classes, and turned them into world rally-raid titles the last three years.

This year he's stepped up to the major car category, reunited with his first Dakar co-driver, Oriol Mena, after his usual partner Oriol Vidal withdrew with a back injury. They got off to a horrible start on stage one when mechanical problems cost them 2 hours, 20 minutes.

But by Sunday night, despite another late mishap, Baciuška was only 22 minutes off the pace.

Another big improver was Sebastien Loeb, who rebounded from engine fan problems on Sunday by slashing 15 minutes on Monday to finish only 16 minutes back in seventh.

Defending champion Carlos Sainz, who landed on his roof on Sunday, lost more time on Monday and finished more than 1 1/2 hours behind.

Overall, the leader was South Africa's Henk Lategan after finishing fourth on the stage; Al Rajhi was nearly five minutes behind, and Al-Attiyah third more than 11 minutes back.

“The dust was a problem for most of the stage,” Lategan said. “The navigation was also super, super tricky. Brett (Cummings, co-driver) did really well. It's actually a big surprise to be first because we haven't been really focusing on it. But I'm happy with that. We've been playing a more strategic game over these two days.”

Toby Price and navigator Sam Sunderland, both two-time motorbike champions trying four wheels for the first time, were fourth.

In the motorbike class, Daniel Sanders became the first rider to win three consecutive stages since Joan Barreda in 2017.

Sanders was seventh to start the day but the Australian caught the pathfinders after about 150 kilometers and controlled the rest of the race.

After 11 hours of racing over two days, Sanders won the stage by more than seven minutes from American Skyler Howes. Spain's Tosha Schareina, who opened the way, was only another four seconds back.

Overall, Sanders was more than 12 minutes up on Howes and Botswana's Ross Branch.

Defending champion Ricky Brabec fell 15 minutes back in fifth.

“The body feels good and I don't feel tired at all,” Sanders said. “I just saved a lot of energy ready for next week. It was good to get the stage win, but it was on me to decide whether I wanted today or not.”

Stage three heading north on Tuesday was reduced by 169 kilometers to 327 kilometers because of storms in the Al Henakiyah region.