Serbian Novak Djokovic, number one in men’s tennis, must be vaccinated against the coronavirus or present a medical exemption to be able to play the Australian Open next month, as the director of the first Grand Slam of the year anticipated this Wednesday.
“If Novak comes to Melbourne, he must be vaccinated or present a medical exemption,” said tournament director Craig Tiley, in statements reported by BBC Sports and the Spanish sports newspaper AS.
The 34-year-old Djokovic, along with the Swiss Roger Federer and the Spanish Rafael Nadal, holds the record of 20 Grand Slams titles, so Australia, a tournament that he won nine times and where he defends the title, represents an unbeatable opportunity to take possession Of the brand.
The confirmed absence of Federer and the probable absence of Nadal (he contracted coronavirus two days ago and does not know if he will be in Melbourne between January 17 and 30), represents a great occasion for Djokovic, who never clarified if he had been vaccinated against the coronavirus, after having been opposed to doing so throughout 2020.
In Australia, all tennis players and also personnel involved in the Grand Slam must be vaccinated or present a medical exemption granted by an independent panel of experts.
The number of the world is the main candidate for the title, after in 2021 he conquered three of the four Grand Slam titles and fell in the final of the United States Open against the Russian Daniil Medvedev, his main rival in search of the twenty-first contest big.
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