Benoit Paire believes those who have reservations about receiving the COVID-19 vaccination should ‘stay in Europe’ amid uncertainty over the entry requirements for next year’s Australian Open.
Officials are still in discussions over what the policy will be regarding players attending the Melbourne Grand Slam with two senior political figures in the country expressing opposite views. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has previously indicated that he would welcome unvaccinated players to the tournament providing they go through a 14-day quarantine. However, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he will not be seeking any exceptions to a health mandate requiring all essential workers, including professional athletes, to receive their vaccinations in his state.
Leading into this year’s Australian Open, 32-year-old Paire was one of 72 players who were unable to leave their room during quarantine in the country after a positive COVID-19 case was detected on his flight. He later criticised organisers over what he described as ‘shameful’ treatment of him and his peers.
Questioned about the possible rules for the next year, the Frenchman said his focus is on himself and he is unconcerned about those who are unvaccinated.
“There is no quarantine anymore in Melbourne if you’re vaccinated. Those that are not vaccinated, I don’t care about them. If they don’t play, all the better for me,” Paire said following his first round loss at the Paris Masters on Monday.
“I don’t care about the other players. I’m motivated to have a great season next year. If there are some people who are reluctant to get vaccinated, then they should stay in Europe.
“It’s not my problem. You have to be vaccinated to go to Australia. I am vaccinated and I’m looking forward to playing there.”
Some players such as Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev have refused to publicly disclose their vaccination status amid speculation over their attendance at the event. In an article published by Tennis Majors on October 26th, the ATP estimated that 65% of their Tour are now fully vaccinated. It is unclear as to what the current rate is on the WTA Tour.
According to Paire, he said players had previously threatened to go on strike should the COVID-19 vaccination be made mandatory on the Tour. Although he believes most will want to be at the Australian Open no matter what.
“At the US Open, everybody was saying that they were going to go on a strike, that they said that they shouldn’t get vaccinated to go to Australia, that they were not going to play,” he said. “But when the season starts again, everybody wants to play.”
The 2022 Australian Open is set to get underway on January 17th. Djokovic and Naomi Osaka are the reigning champions.
