Novak Djokovic wins appeal against ban from Paris tournament after Indian Wells withdrawal

Novak Djokovic has won an appeal after being threatened with suspension from the Paris Masters 1000 over his late withdrawal in Indian Wells.

The world No 1 kept himself in the draw for the Californian Masters event despite knowing he would be unable to travel to the United States, leaving the bottom half of the draw imbalanced when he was placed as the second seed only to pull out.

During his appearance in Dubai, he admitted he would likely miss the current Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami with United States rules requiring all visitors to be fully vaccinated. Despite this, the world No 1 kept his name in the draw for Indian Wells after it was automatically included as a result of his ranking, and the draw ceremony went ahead with Djokovic as the second seed.

He then withdrew from both the BNP Paribas Open and the upcoming Miami Open, leaving the bottom half of the Indian Wells draw imbalanced. The Serb was punished as a result of his late withdrawal, with the ATP Tour sending out an email confirming the penalty for pulling out of the main draw of a Masters 1000 event.

"Any player who withdraws from the Main Draw of an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event shall have a ranking penalty assessed and be suspended from a subsequent ATP Tour Masters 1000 event. This event shall be the event where the player earned the highest point total during the previous 12 months."

As the defending champion of the Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy, this was the tournament Djokovic was set to be suspended from. However, Djokovic has successfully appealed to the ATP and will be able to play the Paris Masters in October as usual, according to tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg. The reason for the 34-year-old's successful appeal has not been revealed