• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Novak Djokovic Given Medical Exemption To Play Australian Open

Home> Tennis

Updated 11:39 4 Jan 2022 GMTPublished 11:30 4 Jan 2022 GMT

Novak Djokovic Given Medical Exemption To Play Australian Open

The 20 time Grand Slam champion is set to compete at Melbourne Park after being given an exemption to be unvaccinated in Australia.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Novak Djokovic's status for the Australian Open has been confirmed, with the world number one revealing he'd been given an exemption to enter the country without a vaccination.


Back in October it was confirmed that players were going to have to be vaccinated in order to enter Melbourne for this year's Australian Open, throwing Djokovic's participation into doubt.

The Serbian refused to confirm his vaccination status but his father was unhappy with the decision, claiming that the restrictions were the same as 'blackmail.'

Daniel Andrews, the Premier of Victoria, even said 'there's no special treatment here,' when discussing the possibility of Djokovic playing without a vaccination, but now it seems that there is.

The nine time Australian Open champion took to Instagram to confirm the news that he was going to be playing the tournament, starting on January 17th, because he's been given an exemption.

Melbourne has been officially the 'world's most lockdown city' thanks to the local government imposing 262 days, nearly nine months, during six separate lockdowns on the city.

The city is now out of lockdown but there has been a rise in cases in the country due to the Omicron variant.

Unsurprisingly fans are not happy with the announcement that Djokovic has been allowed into the area without a vaccination, especially when that goes against what was originally said.


Last month it was confirmed that Rafael Nadal's participation in the tournament was in doubt, after the Spanish player confirmed he had Covid.

Roger Federer will also be missing having no recovered from surgery in time, with questions about his future in the sport.

Last year's tournament, that saw Djokovic and Sofia Kenin win the singles, was played after the players had to quarantine in hotels for two weeks.

Lots of players complained about their quarantine environment but Bernard Tomic's wife came in for particular criticism for her complaints.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Novak Djokovic, Australian Open, Tennis

Ryan Sidle
Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

X

@Sidler28

Choose your content:

a day ago
2 days ago
6 days ago
  • a day ago

    Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer played £1 million tennis match on half-clay, half-grass court to decide true GOAT and the results will amaze fans

    Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer are two of the greatest tennis players of all time.

    Tennis
  • 2 days ago

    Novak Djokovic reveals who he prefers out of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal after feeling 'unwanted'

    Djokovic, Federer and Nadal have 66 Grand Slam tennis titles between them.

    Tennis
  • 6 days ago

    Why Jannik Sinner was suspended from tennis for three months as journalist makes claim about ban length

    Sinner competed in his first major since returning from his ban at the French Open, losing the final to Carlos Alcaraz.

    Tennis
  • 6 days ago

    Carlos Alcaraz has already settled the Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal tennis GOAT debate

    Carlos Alcaraz won his second French Open title on Sunday.

    Tennis