With just over three months until the next Grand Slam gets underway at the Australian Open, players who have not received a COVID-19 vaccination could be subjected to ‘quite different’ restrictions compared to those who are.
In recent weeks there have been conflicting reports over the entry criteria in order to play in Australia next year following a recent health mandate that was implemented by the regional government. The mandate requires 1.25 million ‘professional workers’ to have two COVID-19 shots by the end of November. The list of those affected include all professional athletes.
The development has raised questions over the Melbourne Slam with Tennis Australia yet to outline their final conditions on playing in the tournament due to the fluidity of the situation. It is understood that the Victorian Government continues to look at conditions relating to sporting events. However, The Age newspaper reported a week ago that there is a ‘strong likelihood Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton would only permit vaccinated players.‘
Shedding light on the current situation, former player Casey Dellacqua confirmed that the tournament will once again be implementing a bubble but there will be ‘competitive opportunities to play.’ Players will also have to travel to the country via charter flights. Speaking on Wide World of Sports Australia, Dellacqua says she is ‘liaising with players’ on the WTA Tour in the build up to the event.
“We’ve had conversations with the players already and the communication is on the conditions we know currently,” she said. “Obviously the landscape is changing so we hope these conditions will change.’
“We know the Australian Open will go ahead during the last two weeks of January and we know there will be a bubble where they will have competitive opportunities to play. But we can only go on what we are working on now.”
When questioned about the rules which will be used regarding player vaccinations, Dellacqua didn’t give a definitive answer as to who will or will not be allowed to play. However, she has suggested that it is possible that those who are unvaccinated will be able to play but could be at a disadvantage compared to those who are.
“Our (Tennis Australia) message to the players is if you want the best conditions, the best piece of advice is go and get vaccinated,” she stated. “I think it’s the Tour’s responsibility to take the lead in vaccinations.’
“What I can say is the players who are coming out to Australia, the ones who are unvaccinated versus the ones who are vaccinated – their conditions will look quite different.” Dellacqua added without commenting on what kind of conditions she means.
The 2022 Australian Open is set to get underway on January 17th with the qualifying tournament taking place a month earlier in the Middle East. Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka are the defending champions.
