Novak Djokovic wants to play Australian Open, tournament chief claims

The tournament begins in Melbourne next month

World No 1 Novak Djokovic wants to compete at the Australian Open says a tournament chief who is unsure of the star’s vaccine status.

Tennis Australia’s Craig Tiley insisted that every player at the event will either be vaccinated or have a medical exemption.

“If any player, fan [or] workforce is on site here, you’re either vaccinated or you have a medical exemption that’s approved and you’re on the Australian Immunisation Register,” Tiley told the Australian Associated Press. “That provides us with safety and an extra level of comfort on site.”

Tiley spoke to Djokovic at the weekend but doesn’t know if the Serbian has an exemption due to safety protocols. The star has previously refused to say if he has had to vaccine.

He added: “If Novak shows up at the Australian Open, he’ll either be vaccinated or he’ll have a medical exemption.

“[It’s] his choice on his medical condition, it’s his choice to keep personal and private like all of us would do with any condition we may or may not have. We are not going to force him or ask him to disclose that.”

In addition, the chief is confident Rafael Nadal will be at the Australian Open despite testing positive at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last week.

The tournament will put players in the Crown Towers to keep them away from the public during the event. There will be testing on site and there is not expected to be a cap on crowds as there was at the 2021 tournament.