The Australian Open’s Vaccine Mandate Could Keep Novak Djokovic at Home

When Novak Djokovic won the Paris Masters this month, he rounded out a tennis season for the ages. Not only did he win three major titles to join Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at 20 apiece—he also surpassed Nadal’s mark for Masters titles, and finished as world No. 1 for a record seventh straight season. But if his 2021 ended with an exclamation mark, 2022 will open with a question: Will Djokovic play at the Australian Open? The doubts aren’t due to any injury or dip in form—in fact, Djokovic is playing some of the best tennis of his life. Instead, he is on a collision course with Australian vaccine mandates. Local officials have said that they want this to be the first Grand Slam tournament to require that all participants be vaccinated against Covid-19, without a quarantine option for unvaccinated players.