Novak Djokovic will not participate in the BNP Paribas Open this month after the Biden administration denied his entry to the United States, due to him being unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Djokovic, 35, requested a vaccine waiver, which would have allowed him to enter the U.S. unvaccinated, but it was rejected by the Homeland Security Department.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion subsequently withdrew from the combined ATP-WTA event, which begins Wednesday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California.

The event includes matches in both California and Miami, Florida. It runs through March 19.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC ASKS PERMISSION TO ENTER US FOR TOURNAMENTS DUE TO VACCINE STATUS: 'NOT IN MY HANDS’

Djokovic, who is from Serbia, is currently ranked No. 1 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals.

In Djokovic’s latest professional appearance, he lost in the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships to Russia's Daniil Medvedev, 27. 

Medvedev went on to defeat fellow Russian Andrey Rublev, 25, in the finals.

FLORIDA LAWMAKERS URGE PRESIDENT BIDEN TO GRANT NOVAK DJOKOVIC WAIVER TO PLAY IN US DESPITE VACCINE STATUS

Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, both Republicans from Florida, expressed support for the Serbian tennis star and called on Congress to act to eliminate President Biden’s "bogus vaccine mandate."

"It has come to our attention that your administration is in receipt of a request to waive the current vaccine mandate for international travelers entering the United States from top-ranked men’s tennis player Novak Djokovic. We write to urge you to grant the requested waiver, which is necessary to allow Mr. Djokovic to compete in the Miami Open professional tennis tournament held in our home state of Florida beginning March 19, 2023," the Republicans said in a joint letter.

In the letter, the Florida lawmakers even reminded Biden that he previously said the pandemic was "over."

"In September 2022, you plainly declared to a national audience on 60 Minutes that ‘the [COVID-19] pandemic is over,’ and, earlier this year, Dr. Anthony Fauci published a professional article acknowledging the limited efficacy of vaccines in protecting against respiratory pathogens, like the novel coronavirus," the senators continued. "In light of these changing circumstances, and admissions by you and members of your own administration, the current restrictive vaccine mandate which you have maintained for international travelers entering the United States seems outdated and worthy of rescission."

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They added: "Mr. Djokovic is a world-class athlete in peak physical condition who is not at high-risk of severe complications from COVID-19. It seems both illogical and misaligned with the opinions of your own administration to not grant him the waiver he requests so that he may travel to the U.S. to compete in a professional event."

COVID-19 emergency declarations in the U.S. are set to expire in May.

Djokovic did not compete in the U.S. Open last year due to his COVID-vaccine status and has been public about his decision not to get the vaccine.

Georgian tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili moved into the Indian Wells draw following Djokovic’s withdrawal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

We are all familiar with the legend of the Trojan horse, used famously by the Greeks against the people of Troy to smuggle soldiers past the wall and swiftly conquer the city. Modern readers may read the story and scoff. Surely, we would never be so naïve and ignorant as to let the enemy simply roll into our communities undetected and uncontested. 

The enemies of the United States, however, have come a long way from wood and nails in the quest to conquer democracy. Today, Communist China has invested millions of dollars into the establishment of Confucius Institutes at universities across the U.S., claiming to promote Chinese language and culture. 

Instead, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has leveraged this opportunity to infiltrate U.S. academia and use these institutes as a front for foreign interference in America’s higher education. Through Confucius Institutes, the CCP spreads communist propaganda, censors the truth about the CCP’s history, their human rights atrocities, and their continual aggression and uses their access to conduct espionage and steal sensitive information. 

Through these programs, the CCP is not only able to stifle criticism of the CCP on the college campus, but inadvertently pressure the university to self-censor in order to preserve funding. 

THIS IS THE BIGGEST SCANDAL IN AMERICAN HISTORY

The CCP is well known for implementing espionage schemes that run years or even decades. In 2007, the CCP outright advertised their plans in a report by a Chinese state-run newspaper when the chairman of the Central Guidance Commission on Building Spiritual Civilization under the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CCP said that Confucius Institutes were an "important part of the CCP's external propaganda structure."

We have known about the threat of Confucius Institutes for many years. In February 2018, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that the Institutes were used by the CCP as "nontraditional collectors, especially in the academic setting," across the U.S.

In 2019, more than 100 U.S. colleges and universities hosted Confucius Institutes, which were funded and staffed by the CCP. After the State Department labeled the programs as foreign missions in 2019, a large number of Confucius Institutes shut their doors, but many were replaced by the same program under a different name.

To be clear, the CCP is the greatest threat to democracy and should be blocked from influencing our universities through these devious Confucius Institutes, but so should any foreign actors. It is vital that any nation attempting to dig their claws into our college students be immediately and forcibly barred from doing so. 

Our bill, the Stop Higher Education Espionage and Theft (SHEET) Act, will give the law enforcement community tools they need to combat bad actors’ influence by directing the federal government to designate foreign intelligence threats to higher education and empower the secretary of Homeland Security to remove these threats.

We cannot allow the CCP, or any foreign power, to infiltrate our higher education under the guise of innocent international cooperation. Our children’s education is our most precious commodity. Those who mold the minds of our students, molds our nation’s future. College should be a place of freedom to learn and explore, without any fear of undue influence. 

We must remain vigilant in protecting our academic freedom, intellectual property, and national security. We are proud to lead the introduction of the SHEET Act and we urge our colleagues to join us in protecting our college campuses.

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Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik represents New York's 21st Congressional District. She is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and chairwoman of the House Republican Conference.