Novak Djokovic effectively missed two Grand Slam tournaments specifically because of Covid-related vaccination rules: the 2022 Australian Open and the 2022 US Open.

Quick Scoop: What he missed

  • 2022 Australian Open
    • Arrived in Melbourne with a medical exemption but was detained, had his visa cancelled twice, and was ultimately deported before the tournament started , so he could not defend his title.
* This was directly tied to Australia’s Covid border and vaccination rules at the time.
  • 2022 US Open
    • Could not enter the United States because, under US Covid travel rules , foreign nationals had to be vaccinated.
    • As a result, he did not play the 2022 US Open , explicitly “miss[ing] the Grand Slam in 2022 due to his vaccine status.”

So when people on forums ask “how many grand slams did Djokovic miss because of Covid?” they’re usually referring to these two slams in 2022 that he was barred from playing due to vaccination policies, not injury or form.

Mini context: Could it have been more?

Djokovic said publicly he was prepared to skip Grand Slams rather than get vaccinated , accepting that this might affect his claim to being the statistical GOAT. In practice, though, by 2023 the travel and vaccination rules changed, and he was allowed back into both Australia and the US, so the Covid-related damage at the majors stayed at those two missed events.

Simple table of Covid‑related missed Slams

[8][1] [3]
Year Grand Slam Reason linked to Covid rules
2022 Australian Open Deported over visa and vaccination/border rules, unable to compete.
2022 US Open Could not enter US under Covid-era vaccination requirement for foreign travelers.
**TL;DR:** In terms of Grand Slams, Djokovic missed **two** because of Covid- related vaccination policies: the **2022 Australian Open** and the **2022 US Open**.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.