Craig Tiley expects 95% of tennis players to be vaccinated against Covid before the Grand slam.
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley says he expect 95% of tennis player to be vaccinated against Covid 19 ahead of the Grand Slam.
The Australian Open is schedule to start in January 2022 and it is expected that players who wants to compete will have to get the vaccine.
Victoria state’s strict vaccination mandate has motivated players to get their shots before Melbourne Park, where fans and staff will also be banned if unvaccinated.
“Today more than 85 per cent are (vaccinated),” Tiley said of professional players on local radio station SEN on Thursday.
“And we take a lot of credit for that because we put a vaccination requirement on it.
“We think by the time we get to January it will be between 90-95 per cent vaccinated because if you’re not, you cannot play.”
World No 1 Novak Djokovic has declined to disclose his vaccination status, saying it is a matter of personal choice, and was non-committal about defending his Australian Open title in Melbourne when asked about it at the ATP Finals.
“Novak has won nine Australian Opens, I’m sure he wants to get to 10,” said Tiley. “He’s on 20 Grand Slam titles as is Rafa Nadal, who is coming, and Roger Federer.
“One of them is going to surpass the other and I don’t think Novak would want to leave that to someone else.”
