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The Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament, which is held each year in a Melbourne suburb before the Australian Open, was canceled due to uncertainty over the COVID-19 rules that will be imposed on tennis players, organizers announced Tuesday.
This is the second consecutive year that this competition, which serves as a preparation for the first Grand Slam tournament, decides to cancel its celebration due to the pandemic.
President Adam Cossar expressed his disappointment, but said he expects the competition to return in January 2023.
“With the great uncertainty in recent months about the regulations that will be in force in January, it has not been possible to make the best plans to offer the best and safest sporting event,” Cossar said in a statement.
Players are still awaiting clarification on whether they must be fully vaccinated to participate in the Australian Open, also in Melbourne, and other tennis tournaments in the oceanic country.
In case the vaccine is mandatory to compete, the nine-time Australian Open champion, Novak Djokovic, could rule out the defense of his title, since he is one of the tennis players who has refused to inoculate himself with the drug.
A leaked WTA email this week suggested that unvaccinated players could participate as long as they completed 14 days in quarantine in a hotel, while players on the double standard will enjoy “complete freedom of movement.”
However, Dan Andrews, the prime minister of the State of Victoria, where the Open will be played, indicated that he wants all tennis players to be fully vaccinated.
“All the people who are watching tennis at the Australian Open are going to have both doses, all the people who work there are going to have the full lineup,” Dan Andrews told public radio.
“It is logical that if you want to enter the country to be part of that tournament, you should also have the double standard,” Andrews concluded.
© 2021 AFP
