The French Pierre-Hugues Herbert, 8th in the world in doubles, has given up participating in the 2022 Australian Open, highlighting his choice not to be vaccinated against Covid-19, he explained to the day-to-day The Latest News from Alsace appeared on Saturday.
“I am not vaccinated and the trip to Australia was not an option for me,” he explained, making “PHH” the first player to officially give up the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. 2022 due to his vaccination status.
“It’s a personal choice not to get vaccinated. It is sure that it brings worries and complications in my job (…), it is a bit of a Chinese puzzle ”adds the recent winner of the Masters doubles, alongside his compatriot Nicolas Mahut.
Australian authorities have long warned ahead of the tournament scheduled for January 17-30 in Melbourne that all players from abroad, their entourage and members of their staff should be vaccinated to be admitted to the country.
Herbert, 110th in the ATP singles ranking, also referred to his ranking to stress that he preferred “to start (the 2022 season) with smaller tournaments in Europe”.
The tournament organizers published on Wednesday a list of 104 women and 108 men directly admitted to the main draw, from which Pierre-Hugues Herbert was absent.
If the Australian Ashleigh Barty and the Serbian Novak Djokovic, respectively world No. 1 in the WTA and AP rankings, appear on this list, this is not the case for Roger Federer or Serena Williams, who is recovering.
