No unvaccinated player allowed to compete in Australian Open, says victoria State Premiere

Serbia’s Djokovic has not revealed his vaccination status and said he might not compete in the Australian Open.

Daniel Andrews, Victorian Premier, said that his government would not apply for travel permits to allow unvaccinated tennis players to compete at the Australian Open in the state after Prime Minister Scott Morrison indicated they would be allowed into the country.

Morrison said earlier on Wednesday that unvaccinated players would be free to compete at the Grand Slam after undergoing a two-week COVID-19 quarantine provided that Victoria, which hosts the tournament in Melbourne, applied for permits for them.Andrews said his state would make no such applications.

“On behalf of every vaccinated Victorian who has done the right thing, my government will not be applying for an exemption for any unvaccinated player,” he told reporters.

“If we don’t apply for an exemption, then no exemption will be granted and then the whole issue is basically resolved.”

Australia’s borders have been effectively sealed for 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though authorities approve travel exemptions for special cases.

Victoria has been Australia’s hardest-hit state, with its capital Melbourne locked down six times. The sixth lockdown ended on Friday, but only for fully vaccinated adults.

Unvaccinated adults remain banned from pubs, restaurants, sporting events, and other parts of the economy and maybe shut out until well into 2022.

Victoria’s position is a blow for the Grand Slam’s organizers Tennis Australia, who want a strong field for the tournament in January.

Some top players, including defending champion Novak Djokovic, have declined to disclose their vaccination status. 

“Things being as they are, I still don’t know if I will go to Melbourne,” Djokovic told the online edition of Serbian daily Blic.

“I will not reveal my status, whether I have been vaccinated or not, it is a private matter and an inappropriate inquiry,” Djokovic said. 

Morrison had earlier told the Seven Network, Australia’s major Australian commercial free-to-air television network, that unvaccinated players would need to quarantine for two weeks.

“All the same rules have to apply to everyone,” he said.

“Whether you’re a Grand Slam winner, a prime minister or a business traveler, a student or whoever. Same rules.”

Morrison’s comments contradicted those of his immigration minister Alex Hawke, who said last week that tennis players and other athletes would have to be double vaccinated to enter the country.

Professional athletes in Victoria are under a vaccine mandate, covering coaches, officials, media, and other staff involved in elite competition.

Andrews said tennis players should be held to the same standard as everyone else at the event.

“I’m not going to require people sitting in the grandstand, people working at the event, to be vaccinated while players aren’t,” he said.

Currently, around 70 percent of the top 100 men and women tennis players are vaccinated.

Djokovic has won the season’s opening Grand Slam a record nine times, including the last three editions.

The 34-yea

r-old last competed at the U.S. Open, where his bid to complete the calendar slam — winning all four majors in the same year — was ended by Russian Daniil Medvedev in the final.

Djokovic, tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on a record 20 Grand Slam titles, said he plans to compete in the Paris Masters, the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, and the Davis Cup before the end of 2021.

If Djokovic does play at Melbourne Park, he will be favorite to win a record 21st men’s Grand Slam singles title — moving him out of a tie with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.