Sports
Tennis: Djokovic, Others To Miss Out On Australian Open If Not Vaccinated
- Vaccination has become mandatory for performance at Australian Open
- Djokovic insists vaccination status is a private matter
Ekohotblog reports that World Number 1 tennis player, Novak Djokovic could likely miss out on participating in Australian open due to vaccination rule.
Djokovic has declined to disclose whether he is vaccinated and said that he would wait until Tennis Australia revealed the health protocols before he made a decision about playing at Melbourne Park.
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Melbourne, where January’s Grand Slam is held, has spent more than 260 days under lockdown during the pandemic and the government of the state of Victoria made clear last month there would be no concessions for unvaccinated players.
Tiley said the playing group know they must get the jab to compete at Melbourne Park.
“There’s a lot of speculation about vaccination and just to be really clear, when the (Victoria) premier announced that everyone on site… will need to be vaccinated, we made that clear to the playing group,” he told Channel Nine television.
“All the playing group understands it, our patrons will need to be vaccinated, all the staff working at the Australian Open will need to be vaccinated.”
This includes nine-time champion Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic
Tiley said the Serbian superstar, who would be gunning for a record 21st Grand Slam singles title if he competes in Melbourne, “has said that he views this as a private matter for him”.
“We would love to see Novak here. He knows that he’ll have to be vaccinated to play here,” he added.
“He’s won the Australian Open nine times, I think he’d love to make it double digits and win it 10 times.”
Speaking earlier this week at the season-ending ATP Tour finals in Turin, Djokovic said: “The freedom of choice is essential for everyone, not just whether it’s it’s me or somebody else, it doesn’t really matter.
“Whether it’s vaccination or anything else in life, you should have the freedom to choose, to decide what you want to do in this particular case, what you want to put in your body.”
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