Mandatory vaccination in the Australian state of Victoria complicates the Australian Open and Novak Djokovic’s Grand Slam dream

The COVID-19 pandemic is being controlled in many countries - and in many it is not, in many there are almost no vaccines - but in January 2022 sport could once again face a serious problem, particularly tennis and its top player, the Serbian Novak Djokovic. And not only him.

Daniel Andrews is a Labor politician who has served as premier of Victoria since 2014. His anti-COVID measures have been among the strictest in the world.

At the beginning of 2021, the Australian Open had to be moved to February and players underwent a strict two-week pre-quarantine. This year, the usual dates will be maintained, the second half of January, but the first Grand Slam of the season could be without many of the protagonists, because the Australian media agree that Andrews will impose mandatory vaccination for participants in the tournament.

“The government’s move came after Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley spent months raising concerns about a mandate because of its potential to turn away a group of top players who resist vaccination.

“Mr Tiley has since become resigned to it and is cooperating with the government, according to four government and sports sources speaking anonymously to detail confidential negotiations,” wrote “The Age.”

The situation could potentially prevent Djokovic from challenging for the Grand Slam in 2022, a feat he came close to achieving in 2021 before losing in the US Open final to Russian Daniil Medvedev.

The conquest of the Grand Slam - the four major tennis tournaments in the same season - is not possible if it fails already in Australia, let alone in case the Serb cannot play.

Djokovic, who failed in August in Tokyo in his attempt to win Olympic gold, has 20 Grand Slam titles, a record he shares with Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Spain’s Rafael Nadal. Neither of them played in September in New York, but they hope to be ready for the 2022 season.

Unlike Djokovic, Federer and Nadal advocate the need for vaccination and have been immunized themselves.

In September in New York, Djokovic was asked about whether getting vaccinated should be an obligation or a personal decision. “I hope that it stays that way,” said the world number one, referring to the decision by the ATP and WTA circuits not to make the vaccine mandatory.

This has led to the fact that, according to specialist estimates, since there are no official figures, barely half of the players on the circuit have been vaccinated.

Frenchman Gilles Simon, who argued that if one feels well he does not see “the urgency” of getting vaccinated, was disqualified from the US Open after his trainer tested positive, because he was defined as a “close contact” of the French tennis player.

The contradictory aspect of the situation in that tournament was that spectators over 12 years of age were required to present their proof of vaccination to enter the facilities.

Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas is another tennis star who sparked controversy with his anti-vaccine stance.

“I am not against vaccines, but I don’t see any reason for someone of my age to do it - it hasn’t been tested enough and it has side effects - as long as it’s not mandatory, everyone can decide for themselves,” he told Greek press in Cincinnati in August.

The Greek government’s reaction was swift.

“He does not have the knowledge and studies to assess the need for vaccinations,” government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou said.

“Stefanos Tsitsipas is a great athlete, his skills in sports and his contribution to sports in the country is unquestionable.

“What is at stake, however, is his ability to assess the need for vaccinations or whether the vaccine has been tested for a sufficient period of time. And ... he has neither the knowledge nor the studies nor the research work that would allow him to form an opinion about it.”

In addition to Federer and Nadal, Britain’s Andy Murray, another former number one, stands out in his campaign for vaccination and his criticism of those who do not want to be immunized.

In this context, the Australian Open could return in 2022 to what happened in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, when many of the best players did not compete in it.

“Tiley said we won’t get star players and the state government effectively said ‘suck it up’,” a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations said. “They capitulated,” The Age wrote.

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