Wednesday 20th October 2021
Immigration Minister reaffirmed
Australia is no exception for Djokovic
According to the player organizations, up to 40 percent of tennis professionals are still without a vaccination. That could make for a thinned out tournament at the Australian Open in February. Because nobody is allowed to enter the country without a double vaccination. This was confirmed by the country’s immigration minister.
No exception for the record champion: Australia’s immigration minister Alex Hawke has underlined the strict entry requirements for his country, making the participation of nine-time tournament winner Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in February increasingly uncertain. Full vaccination as a requirement is “universal,” Hawke said on ABC Radio, and “not just for tennis players.”
Hawke did not want to turn to Djokovic personally. “I don’t have a message for Novak. I have a message for anyone who wants to visit Australia: you have to be double-vaccinated,” said the former defense minister. Before Hawke, Dan Andrews, Prime Minister of the state of Victoria, where the first Grand Slam tournament of the season is taking place, pointed out the mandatory vaccination for a visa on Tuesday.
Djokovic, who was already sick with Covid-19 and does not want to disclose whether he is vaccinated or not, had questioned his participation in the tournament in Melbourne (February 8-21) himself. “I do not know if I will go to Australia. The current situation is not good,” he told the tabloid “Blic”. The Serb is playing for his 21st major title in the coming season, with which he would shake off his long-term rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the all-time ranking.
Numerous professionals on the WTA and ATP tour have not yet been vaccinated, according to the player organizations. For women it is around 40 percent, for men 35. This year the Australian Open took place under great security measures, all players had to be in quarantine for two weeks, vaccines against corona were hardly widespread at the time.