Djokovic refuses to confirm vaccine status amid Australian Open doubts
The participants are not guaranteed to get special dispensations to enter Australia for the tournament.
The vaccination rate among tennis players is significantly lower in comparison to other sports. Several top-class players, including Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Alexander Zverev have publicly expressed their doubts about getting vaccinated.
In a new interview with the online edition of Serbian newspaper
Blic
, Novak Djokovic has refused to confirm his vaccination status.
“Things beings as they are, I still don’t know if I will go to Melbourne,”
Djokovic said.
“I will not reveal my status whether I have been vaccinated or not, it is a private matter and an inappropriate inquiry.
“People go too far these days in taking the liberty to ask questions and judge a person. Whatever you say ‘Yes, no, maybe, I am thinking about it’, they will take advantage.”
The 20-time Grand Slam winner might miss out on the upcoming Australian Open due to being unvaccinated. The Victorian government has introduced a vaccine mandate for all professional local sportspeople. While the rule does not include international players, the state’s Premier Daniel Andrews said he doubts if unvaccinated players will be allowed to participate in the competition.
“I don’t think an unvaccinated tennis player is going to get a visa to come into this country and if they did get a visa they’d probably have to quarantine for a couple of weeks,”
Andrews told a press conference.
“I don’t think that the person you indicated [Djokovic] or any other tennis player, let’s not personalise it, or golfer or Formula One driver will even get a visa to get here.
“If I’m wrong I’m sure the federal government will let you know.
“[The virus] doesn’t care what your tennis ranking is, or how many Grand Slams you’ve won. It’s completely irrelevant. You need to be vaccinated to keep yourself safe and to keep others safe.”
Djokovic is currently tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slam titles in tennis history. It remains to be seen whether the Serbian will get his chance to break the historic record in the upcoming competition.
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