Australian Open chief to Djokovic: no vaccine, no play

The ball is back in Novak Djokovic’s court.

Australian Open chief Craig Tiley confirmed on Saturday that everyone who attends the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of 2022 will need to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, including all the players.

That continues to leave the status of defending and nine-time champion Djokovic in question. Djokovic, who has refused to say if he’s vaccinated, would be attempting to win a record 21st Grand Slam singles title.

The tournament is scheduled for Jan. 17-30. The Victorian state government had earlier said only vaccinated persons would be allowed into the site for the tournament, and Tiley reiterated that on Saturday.

“Everyone on site, the fans, all the staff, the players, will need to be vaccinated,” Tiley said at the tournament’s official launch. “There’s been a lot of speculation about Novak’s position, he’s said it’s a private matter.

“We would love to see Novak here, but he knows he needs to be vaccinated in order to play. He’s always said that the Australian Open is the event that puts the wind in his sails.”

The no-vaccine, no-play edict was made by the Victorian state government in late October. It means the Australian Open will become the first Grand Slam tournament to require mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for the players.

Victoria has been the hardest-hit state in Australia, with 1,268 pandemic deaths out of the country’s total of 1,922 and 109,000 of 194,000 overall cases as of Saturday. Melbourne and many other areas of Victoria have been subject to lengthy lockdowns and overnight curfews over the past 18 months.

“It’s been made very clear, when the premier (Daniel Andrews) announced several weeks ago that in order to participate at the Australian Open, to come into Victoria, you’ll need to be fully vaccinated,” Tiley said earlier on a morning television program. “Immediately we communicated that to the playing group, it is the one direction that you take that is going to ensure everyone’s safety.”