Vaccination, Covid, Injuries: Doubts and pull-outs mar Australian Open buildup

With around three weeks to go for next season’s opening Grand Slam, the clouds of uncertainty are as thick and threatening heading into this Australian summer’s tennis action. Not about quarantine protocols or positive cases—we haven’t even got there yet—but who among the big-ticket players will turn up, to begin with.

A host of top players have either pulled out or are in serious doubt for the 2022 Australian Open for factors ranging from vaccinations to being recently infected by the virus amid the Omicron variant spread to injury and illness woes.

The star-studded list comprises a number of Grand Slam champions. Among the men, there’s no clarity on whether world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Dominic Thiem will play the tournament beginning January 17, while Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka are already absent as they continue their injury rehab. Three of the four women’s singles semi-finalists from last year—Serena Williams, Karolina Muchova, and Jennifer Brady—have withdrawn due to injuries, as has world No. 4 Karolina Pliskova and 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu.

Add the latest Grand Slam champion Emma Raducanu, Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Belinda Bencic and 10th-ranked Ons Jabeur to the doubtful group, all of whom, like Nadal, have tested positive for Covid-19 within a span of the last 10 days. Naomi Osaka, on an indefinite break from tennis since early September, has posted videos of her training again and is slated to play the lead-up events in Australia, but the question mark lingers over her participation as well.

The most prominent one, though, is firmly on Djokovic. The Serb’s name does appear in the Grand Slam entry list and the ATP Cup preceding it in Sydney, but that’s no guarantee he’ll be there. Because his vaccination status, to date, remains a mystery.

Any player and coaching staff participating in the Australian Open and the lead-up events in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne are required to be fully vaccinated or provide proof of medical exemption; which, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley revealed, will be a “very small percentage.” Djokovic has publicly acknowledged his vaccine hesitancy in the past, and the last he spoke about the issue was earlier this month when he told reporters they will “know very soon” about his Australian Open decision. But he continues to keep mum, and the organisers won’t ask.

“Medically, he doesn’t talk to anyone about it. I’m not going to ask Novak that… It’s his choice to keep that private,” Tiley said in his most recent update regarding the defending champion on Wednesday. “I’d love to have Novak here. If he meets those conditions then great. If not, it’s disappointing.”

The vaccine mandate has already kept a few players away. Pierre-Hugues Herbert, the 2019 men’s doubles champion, confirmed he will miss this Australian Open because the Frenchman doesn’t wish to get vaccinated, while former singles world No. 54 Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva can’t play because her Sputnik V jab is not approved by the Australian government.

Unless he gets the vaccine, Djokovic stands the risk of losing out on vying for a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title in three weeks’ time. Nadal, despite getting jabbed, is also on the same boat.

Returning to tennis for the first time since August, the Spaniard played a couple of exhibition matches in Abu Dhabi to tune-up for the new season. He lost both, and tested Covid positive upon arrival in Spain. Already unsure about his readiness for the Australian Open while recovering from a foot injury, the infection and subsequent isolation is bound to pull him back further. “As a result of the situation I have to have total flexibility with my calendar and I will analyse my options depending on my evolution,” Nadal tweeted.

The Abu Dhabi event that ended last weekend saw more positive cases tumbling out; among them are Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya and co-players Bencic and Jabeur, all of whom are isolating. Days before that, US Open champion Raducanu was forced to withdraw after testing positive herself, saying she was hoping to be able to get back soon. The 2020 US Open champion Thiem, meanwhile, cancelled his planned warm-up tournaments ahead of the Australian Open and returned home after catching “a cold”. Coming off a long wrist injury lay-off, the Austrian is unsure about his physical condition in his bid to return to the top level.

This year’s Australian Open, incidentally, was the last Grand Slam that featured a bulk of these high-profile players in action together. That spectacle appears increasingly less likely heading into the 2022 curtain-raiser.