Pierre-Hugues Herbert to miss Australian Open due to unvaccinated status

Pierre-Hugues Herbert will miss the 2021 Australian Open after not getting vaccinated due to personal choice.

Pierre-Hugues Herbert has become the first player to confirm he will miss the 2022 Australian Open due to his “personal choice not to be vaccinated” against the coronavirus. Herbert has confirmed that he is not vaccinated, which means he will not be handed a visa to enter Australia.

“Personally, I am not vaccinated and the trip to Australia was not an option for me. I do what I can. But because of my singles ranking, it may have been a bad thing (to go to Australia) for a good start.”

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More and more events however are adopting the vaccinate mandate so Herber understands that it probably won't be feasible long term but he explained his reasoning :

“Yes, for my part, it is a personal choice not to be vaccinated. I don’t know how long it will last, I don’t know if it’s feasible today to be a tennis player without being vaccinated. There is not only Australia. Today, there is the United States, Austria … it is a rather complex topic.”

The Frenchman won the 2019 Australian Open together with Mahut as well as the 2021 ATP Finals recently in Turin.