While tennis squeezes the final stretch of this season, its bodies are already outlining the start of the next one and, as happened this year, a question of considerable dimensions surrounds the celebration of the Australian Open. The great of the antipodes, who traditionally kicks off after the previous preparations, will once again be conditioned by the sanitary restrictions imposed by the authorities of the state of Victoria, Melbourne, and the tennis players shuffle the different possibilities.
One of them, the number one on the men’s circuit, doesn’t see it at all clear: “I don’t know if I’ll play the tournament [programado del 17 al 30 de enero] because the situation is not good. We will decide in two or three weeks. I don’t know how many players will travel there this time ”.
Novak Djokovic speaks for the newspaper Blic, hinting that he is not at all satisfied with the current context of the negotiations and without clearing the question of whether he has received the prick against covid-19 or not. “It seems incredible to me that society judges you based on a vaccine and I don’t want to participate in a war that the media is promoting. For this reason, I am not going to reveal if I have been vaccinated or not ”, explains the one from Belgrade, who in April 2020 expressed himself categorically -“ I oppose vaccination and I would not like anyone to force me to do it in order to travel “- and that last spring he appealed for” freedom of choice “and the right to preserve his privacy.
In any case, the Serbian (34 years old) already knows that Australia is inflexible and that those tennis players who have not been vaccinated will have to face a severe restrictive protocol in January; and even, warn the authorities, they are directly exposed to not being able to compete. Although Tennis Australia (the federative body that organizes the Open) has not yet ruled on whether or not to receive the dose, the state of Victoria does require it and there is a point of friction.
More than 40%
“I do not believe that a tennis player who has not been vaccinated is going to obtain a visa to enter the country, and if he obtained it, he would probably have to complete a two-week quarantine,” said the head of the Victorian government, Daniel Andrews on Tuesday. The leader stressed that they will not make exceptions. “I don’t think this person [Djokovic] nor any other tennis player, golfer or motorist [se aplicará la misma normativa para el GP de Fórmula 1, el 10 de abril] even get a visa to get here; if I’m wrong, I’m sure the federal government will let you know ”, continued the leader.
“The virus does not care about you ranking or how many greats you have won. It is completely irrelevant. You need to be vaccinated to protect yourself and others, “Andrews resolved, recalling that the application of the regulations also covers professional athletes from abroad.
But Djokovic is not the only one averse to the puncture. In September, when the US Open was held, half of the tennis players had not yet received the injection and currently, the figure exceeds 40%. Some like the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas – “I am under 25 years old and the vaccine has not been sufficiently investigated”, he said in August – they have ended up changing their minds – “I will get vaccinated so that I can go to restaurants and bars” -; Others like Aryna Sabalenka, the world’s two, do not have all of them with them (“I distrust her”) and have ended up contracting the virus.
“If I were an ATP or WTA tennis player, I would get vaccinated. It is going to give them the best opportunity to play the Australian Open with a minimum of restrictions ”, assured a week ago the Minister of Sports of the state of Victoria, Martin Pakula.
In the last edition of the Australian Open, the organization designed a double bubble between Adelaide (for the top level players from both circuits) and Melbourne (the rest). A control protocol was established and throughout the tournament 76 players were isolated after landing in the country from four flights in which positive cases were detected. For example, Paula Badosa, a recent champion at Indian Wells, was locked up for 21 consecutive days and entered the tournament with only two training sessions.
Almost nine months of confinement in Melbourne
The young Carlos Alcaraz did not pass the cut either and four days before the tournament started, the positive of the employee of one of the hotels in which the tennis players were staying in Melbourne put the celebration in check. A day of the preparatory events was suspended and all the participants and their trainers were examined.
Now, those who decide to compete in 2022 know that the measures will be strict again, and that the authorities will be rigid with those who do not get vaccinated. Since the pandemic broke out, the oceanic country has canceled numerous sporting events and it will not shake its pulse when deciding if an agreement is not reached with the Australian Federation and the rectors of the Grand Slams (ATP and WTA).
According to the authorities of the state of Victoria announced on Sunday, this Friday the quarantine decreed in August on Melbourne will end. The city that hosts the Open, with 5 million inhabitants, the second most populous in the country, has a total of 264 days under lockdown. Australia registers 1,448 deaths from coronavirus, of which 981 correspond to the state in which Melbourne is located.
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