Novak Djokovic refuses to commit to Australian Open defence amid uncertainty over vaccination requirements
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ByEurosport
Updated 01/11/2021 at 07:28 GMT
World number one Novak Djokovic refused to commit to defending his Australian Open crown until an official announcement on entry requirements has been made. Djokovic is a nine-time winner at Melbourne Park but insisted he is waiting for clarity on whether unvaccinated players can play in January. "Right now, we don't have any official announcement or statement," Djokovic said.
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Reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic will not make a final decision on his attendance at January’s event until entry requirements have been announced.
Djokovic refused to confirm on Sunday whether he will travel to Melbourne and attempt to win a fourth successive title amid conflicting information for players who are not vaccinated against coronavirus.
Last week, Australian prime minister said that unvaccinated players would be allowed into Australia for the tournament as long as they complete two weeks of hard quarantine and submit to regular testing.
However, Victorian state premier Dan Andrews appeared to close the door on unjabbed players when he insisted that they would not be allowed into Melbourne Park to play matches.
Djokovic has not revealed his vaccination status despite constant requests to, but speaking for the first time since his US Open final defeat to Daniil Medvedev, the Serb refused to commit to playing this year’s Australian Open.
"I'm going to decide on whether I go to Australia or not after I see the official statement from Tennis Australia," the world number one said.
"Right now, we don't have any official announcement or statement. So until that's out, I won't be talking about this anymore, because I don't want to be part of the stories about the assumptions and what-ifs.
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"When official condition requirements to travel to Australia and play in Australia are out, then obviously I'll see what I personally do with that, and also the bigger group of the players, you know, because the situation is obviously different in Australia than most parts of the world."
Djokovic tested positive for COVID-19 last year, and was forced to apologise, after holding a charity tournament in Serbia without any social-distancing guidelines.
He has not played since losing to Medvedev at Flushing Meadows in September, but is determined to finish the year as world number one.
"The year-end number one is on the line between Medvedev and myself, and I'm in a pretty good position in terms of the ranking points and the race," he said.
"So that's obviously the goal for the end of the season, other than trying to do well in the Davis Cup with the national team.
"So hopefully I can have a strong finish of the season and clinch that year-end No.1"
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