Australian Open Confirms Novak Djokovic and All Players Must Be Vaccinated to Compete

Australian Open director Craig Tiley confirmed Saturday players were informed they must be fully vaccinated to compete in the 2022 edition of the event, which begins in mid-January.

"There's a lot of speculation about vaccination, and just to be really clear, when the [state] premier announced that everyone on site ... will need to be vaccinated ... we made that clear to the playing group," Tiley told reporters.

The decision raises questions about whether Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked men's player in the world and a nine-time Australian Open champion, will be able to compete. He hasn't disclosed his vaccination status throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

"[Novak] has said that he views this as a private matter for him," Tiley said. "We would love to see Novak here, he knows that he'll have to be vaccinated to play here."

In May, Djokovic explained he didn't want to discuss whether he'd been vaccinated because he'd then be "labeled" as either pro- or anti-vaccine and he's a strong believer in a person making their own health decisions. The one thing he argued against was a vaccine mandate in order to compete.

"I don't think it'll come to that. I hope not, because I've always believed in freedom of choice," Djokovic said.

Now the 20-time Grand Slam champion faces the prospect of missing the first major of the 2022 season if he's unvaccinated, and he'll surely face endless questions about it in the coming weeks, starting after his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev at the ATP Tour Finals on Saturday.

Tiley, who noted the tournament has already received a commitment from Serena Williams to help headline the women's event, said a deadline will be set in December for players to confirm their vaccination status and placement in the 128-player field.

"Entry in here will be determined by around early to the middle of December on the entry deadline," he said. "So you'll know when a player's entered an event ... so in the next couple of weeks you will have really good indication of where everyone's at because at that point there's an official list of who's going to be here."

Australia has imposed strict COVID-19 restrictions throughout the pandemic in an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus, but the guidelines have led to widespread protests, described by organizers as "freedom rallies," throughout the country.

The 2022 Australian Open is scheduled to run from Jan. 17 through Jan. 30 at Melbourne Park. The tournament is planning no limits on attendance, but spectators must also be fully vaccinated.