‘I have already been vaccinated:’ Dominic Thiem eyes off the Australian Open

Last year’s US Open champion Dominic Thiem has confirmed he has been vaccinated for COVID-19 and is targeting January’s Australian Open as a key part of his return to the tour after a wrist injury.

The former world No.3 will play an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi next month – a tournament that Rafael Nadal is also aiming to play before launching an assault on Melbourne’s grand slam.

Dominic Thiem is setting his sights on next year’s Australian Open.Credit:Getty Images

Amid a stoush between the federal and Victorian state governments over entry requirements into Australia – set to impact unvaccinated tennis stars who want to take part in the Australian tennis summer – Thiem said there was never any doubt about him getting the jab.

“I’ll be returning to competition in December and will be playing the MWTC 2021 in Abu Dhabi – with the objective to return to the tour for the 2022 Australian Open,” Thiem said on Twitter.

“Needless to say that the vaccine is needed to play both events, and in my case I have already been vaccinated.

“I saw recently some news about this and I had made it very clear that I would get vaccinated. Hopefully the next time things won’t be taken this far.”

The almost certain presence at the Australian Open of Nadal – who is tied on 20 majors with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer – adds to the intrigue of whether world No.1 Djokovic comes to Australia.

The nine-time Australian Open champion has steadfastly refused to disclose his vaccination status – describing it as “a private matter” – and is yet to commit to heading Down Under.

“I’m going to decide on whether I go to Australia or not after I see the official statement from Tennis Australia,” Djokovic said before this week’s Paris Masters.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews last week shut the door on unvaccinated tennis stars playing the Australian Open, saying unequivocally that the state would not be applying for an exemption allowing them to do so.

The political argy-bargy went up a notch when Prime Minister Scott Morrison indicated that unvaccinated tennis stars could be cleared to play once they had completed quarantine – a stance that contradicted information previously given by immigration minister Alex Hawke, who said double-jab requirements applied to all visitors to Australia, and no exceptions existed for tennis players.

The prime minister said exemptions for workers with specialist skills had been sought throughout the pandemic and such provisions were relevant to tennis professionals.

“Just in the same way a skilled worker who has to come in and fix a boiler-maker or something like that, they can get exemptions to come in and do that,” he told 3AW.

In response, Andrews said that Victoria – which has introduced a vaccine mandate for authorised workers – would not seek any exemptions for players, meaning the issue was “basically resolved”.

“I’m not going to actually require people sitting in the grandstand, people working at the event to be vaccinated while players aren’t, so we’re not going to be applying for an exemption,” Andrews said.

Tennis Australia, which has been resisting mandatory vaccination for players, is caught in the middle of the stoush.

Intriguingly, US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, who stopped Djokovic from completing the grand slam in New York, has said that he was eager to play the Australian Open but could not confirm his participation due to the vaccinated requirements.

Medvedev has also said he preferred to keep his medical records private, backing up Djokovic’s approach.

“I always said it, that I really like Novak’s answer about this. I want to keep my medical, no matter if it’s about vaccine, leg injury, head injury … I want to keep my medical private for a reason,” said the world No.2.

“I feel like tennis is such a brutal sport where you’re always one-on-one against your opponent, and any information you give him can go against you.

“If you’re playing Australia, it’s obvious you’re vaccinated. So that’s why I said I’m willing to play Australia, but I won’t say if you’ll see me there, but we’re going to see in January.”

With Reuters

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

Most Viewed in Sport

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article