'Doesn't matter whether you are No.1 in the world': No Australian Open for unvaccinated tennis players
By Lisa Visentin, Scott Spits and Broede Carmody
Updated October 20, 2021 — 5.37pm first published at 9.00am
Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic has no choice but to be double vaccinated if he wants to enter Australia to pursue a record-breaking 21st major title at January's Australian Open.
The issue of mandatory inoculation for international tennis stars was determined after Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said on Wednesday that double jab requirements applied to all visitors to Australia, and no exceptions existed for tennis players.
More than a third of players on the men's and women's tours had not been fully vaccinated by the start of last week, according to figures provided by the Association of Tennis Professionals (35 per cent) and the Women's Tennis Association (40 per cent).
All of them faced being banned from the Australian Open, which starts on January 17. Djokovic is a nine-time Australian Open champion.
The men's and women's tours have refused to force players to get jabbed, but have recommended that they do so.
Djokovic has been reluctant to say whether he has been vaccinated, but Mr Hawke said there would be no exceptions, with all visitors to the country needing to be double vaccinated.
"The government in establishing its borders has said that 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," Mr Hawke said on ABC radio.
Asked if he had a message for Djokovic, the Minister said the health advice was clear, backing in the view held by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday.
"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," Mr Hawke said.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the rules were about protecting Australians. "They apply to everyone without fear or favour. It doesn't matter whether you are No.1 in the world or you are anything else," he told a media conference on Wednesday.
But Nationals backbencher Matt Canavan said Djokovic, who would be pursuing a record 21st grand slam title in Melbourne next year, should be allowed in because he's already had COVID-19.
"We should change the rules. Those rules are wrong. I'm not saying it should be a rule for Novak, it should be a rule for everybody. If you've had COVID and have natural immunity, you're better off," Senator Canavan told Nine's Today Show.
Victorian Australian Medical Association president Dr Roderick McRae did not agree.
"I understand he [Djokovic] had it [coronavirus] but, believe it or not, the immunity from the vaccination is better than the immunity from catching the disease," Dr McRae said.
"I think there is an element of standards [here]. It's important our leaders make these decisions in our interests and it [banning unvaccinated travellers] demonstrates to the community just how important we take this."
Djokovic has already hinted the vaccination issue could be a deal-breaker for him playing in the Melbourne grand slam.
"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."
Britain's Andy Murray has been among tennis players to voice concerns about the low uptake among his peers.
Speaking in August, Murray said: "I feel like I'm enjoying a fairly normal life, whereas for the players that haven't, it's different. I'm sure they'll be frustrated with that.
"Ultimately, I guess the reason why all of us are getting vaccinated is to look out for the wider public. We have a responsibility as players travelling across the world to look out for everyone else as well.
"I'm happy that I'm vaccinated. I'm hoping that more players choose to have it."
One former player has predicted vaccination rates will soon rise sharply with the window on the tennis calendar after the high-profile Indian Wells event, which finished at the weekend, shaping as a suitable time to begin the process.
Reflecting some of the angst in public discourse about vaccination being compulsory rather than a personal choice - the reality for authorised workers in Victoria - the former player said those views also existed within tennis.
"I think most of the players will realise pretty quickly that it's a lot easier to get it [double vaccination] done.
"I'd say between 90 and 95 per cent [of players], I would guess, would [eventually] be vaccinated.
"I think some players wish they'd had an option, as opposed to being told [to]. I have heard that – 'we don't feel like we should be told we have to'. Sometime people might think [like] that, and they are [also] vaccinated."
Opinions vary about whether 34-year-old Djokovic will match his convictions and skip a trip to Australia but former tournament director Paul McNamee has previously tipped that the Serbian star will fulfil his obligations.
"Nole [Novak] will do what he needs to do, no more, no less [and] in his own time and his own," McNamee has tweeted. "Of that I have no doubt."
At the US Open, which ended September 12, spectators had to show proof of at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to attend matches, although players weren't required to get a shot.
Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion and three-time runner-up at the US Open, thought that sent a mixed message. She reached the US Open final in 2020, when there were no fans allowed.
"To me that's a bit bizarre that fans have to be vaccinated and players are not," Azarenka said. "So I think that in my opinion, it's inevitable that it will be mandated at some point, like other leagues are doing."
World No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas virtually committed to January's Australian Open last week, describing any potential limitations imposed on unvaccinated tennis stars, including quarantine, as fair.
After initially declining to reveal his COVID-19 vaccination status, the Greek star was asked last week about the looming vaccine mandate for athletes heading Down Under, and said: "I will play under the conditions that have been set now. I think it's fair."
2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem has indicated he has not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 and was waiting for the Novavax vaccine to be approved. "Because the doctor said it was a good vaccine," Thiem told Austria's daily broadsheet publication, Derstandard.
With Telegraph, London; AP
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Lisa Visentin is a federal political reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, covering education and communications.Connect via Twitter or email.
Scott Spits is a sports reporter for The AgeConnect via Twitter or email.
Broede Carmody is a culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via Twitter or email.
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