The Australian Open is well underway with only 10 spots left to be filled today in the second round. The likes of Medvedev, Murray and Nadal have all qualified with Tsitsipas playing his first round match late today.
The next grand slam of the year will start from the 22nd of May in France as Nadal hopes to continue his clay dominance in Paris. However for one of his biggest rivals in tennis, Novak Djokovic the drama just won’t end that easily.
With France passing vaccination laws across the country, the French Sports Minister has made a public statement saying he can’t and won’t let Novak Djokovic come and be part of the French Open until and unless he is vaccinated. This means that Djokovic, who is not only missing the first grand slam of the year, will now possibly miss the second one as well.
Meanwhile, ATP released a statement regarding the Djokovic drama as well, saying,
“Today’s decision to uphold Novak Djokovic’s Australian visa cancellation marks the end of a deeply regrettable series of events. Ultimately, decisions of legal authorities regarding matters of public health must be respected. More time is required to take stock of the facts and to take the learnings from this situation.
Irrespective of how this point has been reached, Novak is one of our sport’s greatest champions and his absence from the Australian Open is a loss for the game. We know how turbulent the recent days have been for Novak and how much he wanted to defend his title in Melbourne. We wish him well and look forward to seeing him back on court soon.
ATP continues to strongly recommend vaccination to all players.”
As the Covid virus continues to grow around the world again, Djokovic might have to finally give in to the demands and be fully vaccinated come clay season as he might not be able to play at the French Open and defend his 2021 title otherwise.