No entry for unvaccinated people ?: Australian Open threatens Djokovic scandal

No entry for unvaccinated people?
Australian Open threatens Djokovic scandal

Novak Djokovic is the best tennis player in the world. He is not only the defending champion at the Australian Open, but also a “vaccine skeptic”. That could be a problem at the tournament in January. Unvaccinated players may not be allowed to travel to Melbourne.

Unvaccinated tennis professionals will probably not receive entry permits for the Australian Open in Melbourne next January. This was announced by Dan Andrews, Prime Minister of the State of Victoria. This would put the defending champion and “vaccine skeptic” Novak Djokovic at risk in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.

“I don’t think that an unvaccinated player can get a visa for this country. The virus doesn’t care where you are in the world rankings or how many Grand Slams you have won,” said Andrews: “Even if there is a visa, affected players would probably have to be in quarantine for several weeks. “

Australia has been one of the countries with the strictest entry rules since the beginning of the Corona crisis and is still almost completely sealed off. In 2021, the Australian Open took place under great security measures, all players had to go into quarantine for two weeks.

Ask about vaccination “inappropriate”

The Serb Djokovic, who at that time secured his ninth title in Melbourne with a final victory over the Russian Daniil Medvedev, had publicly criticized corona vaccinations several times. The defending champion and nine-time Melbourne champion does not want to say whether he is vaccinated against the coronavirus or not. “This is a private matter,” emphasized the Serb in an interview with the Serbian newspaper “Blic”, the question about it was inappropriate. Djokovic was infected with the corona virus last June on the Adriatic tour he co-organized.

Djokovic also left it open in the interview whether he will travel to the Australian Open. He pointed out that at this year’s edition, numerous professionals had to go into a two-week hotel quarantine after arriving, also because they were classified as contact persons for fellow travelers who tested positive. Andrews’ statements were not known to him at the time.

Djokovic has been on pause since the US Open final was lost five weeks ago, most recently he was absent from the Masters tournament in Indian Wells, California, without giving a reason. He now said that he spent a lot of time with his family after the final in New York and did not train. Due to the defeat, Djokovic had missed out on being the first men’s professional to win all four important tournaments in a calendar year, the Grand Slam, in 52 years. He wants to return to the Masters tournament in Paris at the beginning of November and then compete in the ATP Finals in Turin and the Davis Cup finals.

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