Australian Open to impose stricter entry requirements for unvaccinated players at 2022 tournament

The organizers of the Australian Open have announced that players who haven't been vaccinated against Covid-19 may face tougher requirements if they plan to enter the country and compete at next year's event.

The first Grand Slam event of the season is slated to take place between January 17-30 2022, and Victorian Sports Minister Martin Pakula is confident that the event will go ahead as planned.

"It's hard to be certain about anything right now, but I'm very confident that the Australian Open will go ahead," Pakula told Australia national sports network SEN. "On our vaccine horizon, the second half of January, we should be in a very good position.

"We were able to get the tournament away last year, and that was with zero per cent of the community vaxxed. So, I'm very confident the Australian Open will go ahead, and it's very important that it does."

Since the start of the pandemic, Australia has imposed some of the strictest requirements in the world to enter the country, including several multi-day lockdowns.

"Whether or not it's as strict as you won't get into Australia if you're not vaccinated, that I don’t know," Pakula said. "What I'm very clear on, what I'm very sure about, is that the rules for unvaccinated players and the rules for vaccinated players, I'm quite confident will be very different.

"We'll provide clarity for the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) very shortly, but I think they can be very confident that being vaccinated will be a wise thing for them to do before they seek to come to Australia."