After 27 months of nonstop testing, spectator-free tournaments, and cancelled events, tennis may have finally moved past pandemic precautions. For over two years, tennis has had a hard time living with the pandemic.
In November 2021, tennis still had restrictions while many other major league sports were back to normal. Tennis players had online news meetings, cotton swabs in their noses, and fans could only watch through TV.
Just a month later, tennis superstar Novak Djokovic tested positive for COVID just in time to travel to Australia for the Australian Open. Since he was unvaccinated and the country was still mostly restricted to unvaccinated people, Aussie officials deported him because they thought that he would influence people not to get vaccinated.
The 2020 US Open was played on schedule but had no spectators. The French Open was postponed with just a couple hundred spectators allowed. Australia quarantined every player at the 2021 Australian Open for 14 days before they could play in the tournament.
At Wimbledon 2021 and the French Open, there was no required testing, but wearing a face mask was still mandatory. “So many rules,” Rafael Nadal said. “For some people some rules are fine; for the others rules are not fine. If there are some rules, we need to follow the rules. If not, the world is a mess.”
“I had all type of Covid possible,” said Paula Badosa, a Spanish tennis pro who first tested positive in Australia in January 2021 and has had it twice more. “I had vaccination, as well. So in my case, if I have it again, it will be very bad luck.”
Since Novak Djokovic was deported from Australia this January, he will need a special exemption to go back to Australia next January. He will also most likely not play in the US Open this year because the United States requires every foreigner who enters to be fully vaccinated. Djokovic believes that people should be able to decide whether they want to be vaccinated or not. Unless restrictions are changed, he will probably not play in a Grand Slam until the French Open next May.
In November 2021, tennis still had restrictions while many other major league sports were back to normal. Tennis players had online news meetings, cotton swabs in their noses, and fans could only watch through TV.
Just a month later, tennis superstar Novak Djokovic tested positive for COVID just in time to travel to Australia for the Australian Open. Since he was unvaccinated and the country was still mostly restricted to unvaccinated people, Aussie officials deported him because they thought that he would influence people not to get vaccinated.
The 2020 US Open was played on schedule but had no spectators. The French Open was postponed with just a couple hundred spectators allowed. Australia quarantined every player at the 2021 Australian Open for 14 days before they could play in the tournament.
At Wimbledon 2021 and the French Open, there was no required testing, but wearing a face mask was still mandatory. “So many rules,” Rafael Nadal said. “For some people some rules are fine; for the others rules are not fine. If there are some rules, we need to follow the rules. If not, the world is a mess.”
“I had all type of Covid possible,” said Paula Badosa, a Spanish tennis pro who first tested positive in Australia in January 2021 and has had it twice more. “I had vaccination, as well. So in my case, if I have it again, it will be very bad luck.”
Since Novak Djokovic was deported from Australia this January, he will need a special exemption to go back to Australia next January. He will also most likely not play in the US Open this year because the United States requires every foreigner who enters to be fully vaccinated. Djokovic believes that people should be able to decide whether they want to be vaccinated or not. Unless restrictions are changed, he will probably not play in a Grand Slam until the French Open next May.
