Quarantine is 'Common sense' for Aussie Open

CANBERRA • Australia's Tourism Minister has called for unvaccinated tennis players to be allowed to compete in the Australian Open after a 14-day quarantine, clashing with Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews as the debate over mandatory inoculation continues.

Mr Dan Tehan yesterday said that Australia should take a "common sense" approach in allowing players who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 into the country via hotel quarantine.

"We need to have common sense and if we can bring players in, especially the best players in the world, and they can do two weeks' quarantine, that seems to me like a common sense proposition," he told the Seven Network TV channel.

His comments came after Mr Andrews shut the door on Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's suggestion that unvaccinated players could compete in the first Grand Slam of the year, set to take place on Jan 17-30.

Mr Morrison claimed on Wednesday that unvaccinated players would be able to travel to Australia in January under exemptions from international travel laws as long as they quarantine for 14 days on arrival. However, Mr Andrews ruled out the possibility of Victoria, which hosts the Australian Open, applying for such exemptions.

The ongoing uncertainty has cast doubt over whether world No. 1 Novak Djokovic will be able to defend his title, which he has won a record nine times. The 20-time Grand Slam winner has refused to say if he is vaccinated and he is not the only tennis star to express doubts about the Covid-19 vaccination.

Third-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece is another who has reportedly not taken the jab.

However, Mr Tehan believes Australian Open organisers and authorities should pull out all the stops to bring Djokovic and his fellow players to Melbourne, regardless of their vaccination status.

"Novak Djokovic has been an absolute (staple) of the Australian Open, one of the best players ever to play at the Australian Open," he said yesterday.

"It would be a shame if we couldn't find a way, especially if he was prepared to do two weeks' quarantine, for him to come and be able to continue to try and defend the outstanding record he has at the Australian Open."

Mr Tehan added that the two-week quarantine would be a safe method.

"If there are two weeks' quarantine available, which would mean players are safe and they are the best players in the world, it means we can put the best tournament in the world on and remember, it highlights Melbourne across the globe," he said.

But even if a concession is made, it is unclear whether Djokovic will be keen to undergo another long stretch of quarantine after telling Serbian daily Blic he did not enjoy being confined to his hotel room in late January ahead of this year's hard-court tournament.

"I've talked to a lot of players and that remained a bad memory for everyone. So I don't know if I'll go to Australia. I don't know what's going on. Currently, the situation isn't good at all," he said. "It wasn't a good experience for us."

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