World No 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas isn’t too happy about Novak Djokovic finding a way around the Australian Open vaccine mandate.
Djokovic, after a legal battle over his visa, has been allowed to compete at the Melbourne major with a medical exemption since he is not vaccinated.
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“The stats say 98 per cent of players have been vaccinated and did what they had to do in order to come and perform and play in Australia,” Tsitsipas told India’s WION News.
You have to start somewhere right?
🇬🇷 @steftsitsipas reminisces on his time as a ballkid 🎾#AusOpen • #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/8VZxHQqRh7
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 10, 2022
“One side of it is, yeah we’ve all followed the protocols in order to compete in Australia, we’ve been very disciplined in that part.
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“The other side, I’d say that it kind of seems like not everyone is playing by the rules of how Tennis Australia and the government have been putting things.
“A very small group chose to follow their own way and it kind of makes the majority look like they’re all fools or something.”
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The Australian Open is the first tennis tournament to make vaccination mandatory for the players.
Tsitsipas had come under fire late last year when he revealed that he hadn’t taken the jab yet. The Greek star, however, has since been fully vaccinated.
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Seeded fourth at the Australian Open, Tsitsipas will take on Mikael Ymer in the first round. He had reached the semi-finals last year.
