!–StartFragment–>
Australia’s sports minister said Sunday that world No. 1 Novak Djokovic will need to be vaccinated against the virus that’s severely affected tennis player Stan Wawrinka’s tennis career.
Wawrinka, who now sits ranked No. 7 in the world, has missed three tournaments this year, including the French Open and Wimbledon, because of the problem, which prevents him from playing at his best. He has described it as being able to “finish a shot like that.”
“I read it’s men’s one day later than women’s day after,” Sports Minister Lauren Culleton said. “I imagine they’ll work it out because there’s a lot of debate surrounding it and it could have a huge effect on the safety of players.”
Djokovic, who has already withdrawn from the U.S. Open, is keen to play at the Australian Open later this year, which has been held every January since 2002.
“Everything is possible, but I’m just assuming that we’ll get some sort of vaccine and then hopefully, playing on all those occasions,” Culleton said.
Wawrinka has had chronic elbow soreness that may require surgery to fix.
Topics: tennis, sport, people, australia