Tennis Stars urged to be vaccinated for 2022 Australian Open
Vaccine mandates continue to divide opinion and it’s likely to have an impact on the first tennis grand slam of the year at Melbourne Park.
As the world attempts to adapt to living with the virus, it remains one of the most controversial topics today. What some people perceive as an intrusion on their freedom, others think of as a measure of common sense taken in the spirit of protecting others from a potentially fatal disease. Whichever the case, the mandates are here - and they can have ramifications.
Melbourne has suffered more than most and as the city follows Sydney out of lockdown, sports events are starting to return, with one condition, however. Vaccination.
If you love tennis, being vaccinated is a recommended course of action - at least if you plan to go to the Australian Open next year – it’s likely tournament organisers will require all visitors to be vaccinated to have access to the event. Otherwise, the closest you’ll get to tennis in January will be playing Centre Court at Spin Casino. The game is a tribute to this wonderful sport, and while it’s far less satisfying than watching the world’s best show off their skill at Melbourne Park, it’s fun to play and also comes with a chance for big wins.
The mandates, in turn, will also apply to athletes. The Australian Federal Government has declared a no-jab no-play policy and it's a stance casting serious doubt over whether world No.1 Novak Djokovic will be at Melbourne Park in January.
Victoria sports minister Martin Pakula has strongly recommended that players get their shot ahead of the 2022 Australian Open.
“If I was an ATP or WTA player, I’d be getting vaccinated”
Speaking to SEN this week, Victoria Minister for Sports Martin Pakula urged tennis players to get their vaccines or risk not being allowed into the country for the Australian Open and lead-in events.
There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the event - the first major international sporting event organised in the state since the recent easing of its restrictions - and, without a vaccine, nothing can be guaranteed.
“Whether or not unvaccinated non-citizens are allowed in at all, that’s something that’s still to be determined in that national sense,” said Pakula.
“I think if I was an ATP or WTA player, I’d be getting vaccinated. That’ll give them the best opportunity to play in the Australian Open with the more minimal restrictions that’ll be in place for those people.”
The very possibility of unvaccinated individuals entering the country is still a matter of discussion in the federal cabinet, he said, so he didn’t have an answer to this matter ready at the time.
Last year’s Australian Open was held very much under the threat of a global pandemic, and this was felt by the organisers and participants alike. “Last year, all of those players had to do their 14 days of quarantine” Pakula pointed out.
“Right now there looks like there will be different rules for people who enter this country who are vaccinated as against unvaccinated and I don’t think tennis will be an exception to that.”
The two-week quarantine kept quite a few big names away from last year’s event at Melbourne Park. Among others, current ATP #9 Roger Federer skipped the event because of the fortnight he would’ve had to spend in isolation.
Capacity was restricted at last year’s event to a maximum of 30,000 per day, while just 7500 per session were permitted for the finals. A snap lockdown in Melbourne locked crowds out altogether for five days of the 14-day event. In comparison, more than 93,000 spectators attended a single day the previous year, with a total of 812,174 fans across the two weeks.
It’s unknown what the permitted capacity will be at Melbourne Park in January next year, but it’s expected to be a big increase on the 2021 numbers, given the ever-increasing vaccination rate in Melbourne and Australia overall.
Melbourne has been in a long-term lockdown and it’ll host its first sports event in front of a crowd in months in late October, with a restricted crowd of 10,000 permitted to attend the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse.
