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World number one Djokovic, who is level with Roger Federer and
Rafa Nadal on 20 Grand Slam titles, has declined to reveal his
vaccination status, and said he is unsure if he will defend his
Australian Open crown.
Clarifying Australia's visa requirements, Minister for
Immigration Alex Hawke said foreign players would need to have
had two vaccination shots to play the Grand Slam at Melbourne
Park in January.
"You’ll need to be double vaccinated to visit Australia. That’s
a universal application, not just to tennis players. I mean that
every visitor to Australia will need to be double vaccinated,”
Hawke told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.
"I don’t have a message to Novak. I have a message to everybody
that wishes to visit Australia. He’ll need to be double
vaccinated."
Apart from Serbian Djokovic, who has won nine of his Grand Slam
titles at the Australian Open and the last three in succession
at Melbourne Park, the rule could exclude scores of players from
the tournament.
More than a third of professional players remain unvaccinated,
according to recent media reports. Both the men's ATP and
women's WTA tours have urged players to get vaccinated but some
have voiced reservations.
Russian men's U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev and German
world number four Alex Zverev have expressed scepticism,
although their vaccination status remains unknown.
Greek world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas said in August he
would only get vaccinated if it became mandatory, though later
said he planned to have shots by the end of the year.
Tennis Australia, which organises the Grand Slam, said it was
working with authorities on conditions for players, fans and
tournament staff. "Our understanding is that the details around
international visitors entering the country are yet to be
decided and we hope to have more information soon," the
governing body said.
Australia's health minister Greg Hunt said the country's rules
were about protecting Australians. "They apply to everyone
without fear or favour. It doesn't matter whether you are number
one in the world or you are anything else," he told a media
conference on Wednesday.
Australia has shut its international borders to non-citizens and
non-permanent residents for 18 months, though there have been
some high-profile exceptions. International travel is expected
to begin for Australian citizens within weeks, but non-citizens
are expected to be shut out until early-2022.
Authorities in Victoria state, which hosts the Australian Open,
said they would not make special deals with unvaccinated
athletes to allow them to compete even if they secured visas.
Melbourne, Australia's second largest city, has been locked down
since August due to an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta
variant but will begin to open up on Friday, when 70% of the
adult population in Victoria is expected to be fully vaccinated.
(Additional reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne and Renju Jose
in Sydney; Editing by Toby Davis & Shri Navaratnam)
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