(Reuters)World number one Novak Djokovic has “played by his own rules” and jeopardized his bid for a 21st Grand Slam title by failing to follow Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements, world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas said on Thursday.
Djokovic was included in Thursday’s Australian Open draw amid uncertainty over his participation with the government, which has not yet decided whether to cancel his visa a second time over concerns over his medical exemption from Australia’s vaccination mandate.
The 34-year-old, a vaccine skeptic, stirred widespread anger in Australia when he announced he would travel to Melbourne with a medical exemption from the requirements for vaccinating visitors against COVID-19.
The Australian Border Force said his exemption was invalid and he was being held at an immigration detention hotel, but a court later allowed him to stay because officers were “unreasonable” when he was interviewed at a seven-hour trial at mid-night.
“Certainly he played by his own rules and did what not many players had the courage to do, especially after the ATP announced certain criteria for players to enter the country,” Greek Tsitsipas told Indian news channel WION.
“No one really thought they could come to Australia unvaccinated and not have to follow the protocols… it takes a lot of courage to jeopardize the Grand Slam, which I don’t think many players would do.”
The ATP, which governs men’s tennis, has said 97 of the top 100 male players are vaccinated. World No. 93 American Tennys Sandgren told reporters earlier this month that he had withdrawn from the Australian Open due to the vaccination mandate and decided not to apply for a TUE.
Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features and videos
Asked if Djokovic should defend his title at Melbourne Park next week as his Visa saga continues, Tsitsipas said: “There are two points of view. One side of this is that almost every single player has been fully vaccinated… and followed the protocols to play in Australia.
“On the other hand, not everyone seems to play by the rules … a very small majority have chosen to go their own way, which makes the majority look like idiots.”
Add Comment