INDIAN WELLS
\nAndy Murray expects unvaccinated players to compete at the Australian Open but says he would support moves by local authorities to impose stricter conditions on them at Melbourne Park than those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
\nVictoria sports minister Martin Pakula said on Tuesday that players planning to compete at the first Grand Slam of the year should get vaccinated to give themselves the best chance of competing in Melbourne.
\nTennis Australia has declined to comment on arrangements for players based on their vaccination status. However, vaccinated players are expected to be given more freedom to move around and may also be able to skip the country\u2019s mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival.
\n\u201cMy understanding is if you\u2019re unvaccinated you\u2019re still allowed to play, it\u2019s just the rules are going to be different,\u201d Murray told a news conference after Tuesday\u2019s third-round Indian Wells defeat by Alexander Zverev.
\n\u201cYou might just have to leave (for Australia) a few weeks earlier than everyone else. That\u2019s the player\u2019s choice. If the local government puts that in place then I would support that. It would be great if more players got vaccinated.
\n\u201cAustralia in particular has been very, very strict over there. The public there have had to endure a painful 18 months or whatever. If people are going to come into the country and potentially risk an outbreak in their community, yeah, that\u2019s understandable.\u201d
\nWorld number four Zverev, who in April said he had not been vaccinated, did not want to be stuck in the middle of the debate. \u201cI fully respect the decisions of players that are not vaccinated. I also do respect the decision that the Australian government is giving,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to be in the middle of something which I kind of am not involved in because I don\u2019t have that issue of the two-week quarantine, all that. I don\u2019t want to go against anybody here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INDIAN WELLS Andy Murray expects unvaccinated players to compete at the Australian Open but says he would support moves by local authorities to impose stricter conditions on them at Melbourne Park than those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Victoria sports minister Martin Pakula said on Tuesday that players planning to compete at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n