Novak Djokovic is free to play at the upcoming French Open, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has said, despite not having had a vaccination against Covid-19.
Djokovic missed the Australian Open in January in a drawn out saga, at the end of which he was deported from the country for failing to meet strict immigration rules around the coronavirus vaccine.
There had been concerns that the Serbian could also miss the French Open, which begins on 22 May, as well as Wimbledon this summer, but France’s rules have since been relaxed with vaccine passports no longer required to access sporting venues.
“As things stand, nothing stands in the way of Novak Djokovic taking part in French Open,” Mauresmo told a press conference.
Djokovic’s season remains hampered by his stance on vaccinations. He recently lost his No 1 ranking to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev and will miss upcoming tournaments Indian Wells and Miami due to America’s immigration rules. The US Open is scheduled to begin on 29 August.
Given France’s change in status, Djokovic’s next tournament could now be next month’s Monte Carlo Masters.
Djokovic’s absence from Melbourne opened up the tournament and Rafael Nadal took advantage, becoming the first male player to win 21 grand slam titles, with Djokovic and Roger Federer holding 20 each.
But the 34-year-old Djokovic is the defending men’s champion at Roland Garros and now appears set to defend his title, with the opportunity to pull level with Nadal’s slam tally.
However, while vaccination is not required to enter France or any sporting event in the country, French tennis federation (FFT) president Gilles Moretton warned that things could change before the tournament starts.
“There’s still a virus circulating and we have to be cautious. If things were to happen again and the government would take new measures we would not be excluded from these measures,” he explained.
Moretton was optimistic that the Roland Garros stadium would be full after the 2020 and 2021 editions were hit by Covid-19.
“We started selling tickets on March 8 and 500,000 of the 600,000 have already been sold,” Moretton told a news conference on Wednesday. “Out of the 150,000 tickets for the night sessions, 100,000 have been sold.”
