A year after one of the best tennis players in the world, Novak Djokovic, was deported from Australia because he was not vaccinated against the corona virus, the Australian tennis authorities have adopted completely different measures for the upcoming first Grand Slam of the season.
Tennis players at the upcoming Australian Open will not have to be tested for covid-19 and can play even if they have the virus.
"We're just monitoring how the community is doing right now," tournament director Craig Tiley said.
"We've gone a step further by recommending that you stay away when you're sick."
Last year, players had to be tested daily and isolated if positive and also had to be vaccinated, while the 2021 tournament was under even stricter measures, in a so-called biosecurity bubble.
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"We made it clear to our players, as well as our staff, if anyone is not feeling well, stay home, our medical staff will continue to monitor the situation," Tylee added.
Last week cricketer Matt Renshaw resumed playing for Australia in a five-day Test match against South Africa in Sydney after testing positive for Covid-19.
The Australian Open starts on Monday, January 16 and runs until Sunday, January 29.
What happened in Australia 2022?
A few days before the start of the Australian Open, Djokovic announced that he received a medical exemption independent commissions and that he can play in Melbourne.
He headed for a distant continent, but immediately after landing, problems began.
First, he was detained at the airport, where he was interrogated for several hours.
He was detained allegedly because of the wrong type of visa, and then he was asked for proof that he cannot be vaccinated against the corona virus for health reasons.
The rules of the tournament state that the participants must be vaccinated, unless they submit a request for exemption on health grounds, which is decided by two medical committees.
Although Djokovic had the commission's approval, the Australian authorities refused him a visa, which the Serbian tennis player's legal team appealed.
The court accepted his arguments, overturned the Australian government's decision to revoke his visa and deportation, and it seemed that Djokovic would defend the trophy.
However, Alex Hawke, Australia's Minister for Emigration, exercised his discretion and canceled Djokovic's visa again, along with a deportation order and a ban on entering Australia for the next three years.
The decision caused anger and indignation among fans of Novak Djokovic and his family.
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While awaiting the final decision, Djokovic spent several days in a facility for immigrants, which Australian authorities say is a hotel.
Then the whole world learned about the problems of those people who were detained in that facility for years, waiting for the Australian authorities to grant them asylum.
Among them was Mehdi Ali, who was 15 years old when he fled persecution in Iran in the hope of settling in Australia.
Meanwhile, Mehdi, who spent nine years in the facility in Melbourne, was able to leave it and went to America.
At the end of 2022, the Australian Department of Immigration published a statement on the decision of Minister Andrew Giles to reverse his predecessor's decision to revoke Novak Djokovic's temporary visa.
Thus, Djokovic's three-year ban on entering Australia was automatically erased.
Djokovic: I don't forget, but I love the Australian Open
Djokovic won the Australian Open nine times, making him the most successful tennis player in history.
The Serbian has 21 Grand Slam titles, one more than Swiss Roger Federer, who recently retired from tennis, but also one less than the Spaniard Rafael Nadal.
At last year's Australian Open, Djokovic was supposed to defend the trophy, but he was not allowed to do so, so that Nadal would triumph in Melbourne.
When he came to Australia in the final days of 2022 to play in the Adelaide tournament in preparation for the Australian Open, Djokovic said he "cannot forget the events" of the beginning of last year.
"Those things always stay deep inside you. It will be like that until the end. I haven't had that experience before, I hope I won't again, but it was an interesting life lesson," Djokovic said.
"Now I'm back in Australia and I want to talk about how I feel about this country and how I feel playing here. People are wonderful, they love tennis, they love sports," he added.
In Melbourne, Djokovic lifted the cup intended for the winner nine times.
"What happened 12 months ago cannot erase all the wonderful moments I experienced here. The Australian Open is my favorite Grand Slam and the results show that," concluded Djokovic.
After winning Wimbledon, Djokovic missed last year's US Open because he was not vaccinated against the corona virus, which was the organizer's request for participation.
At the moment, the requirement that everyone entering the country be vaccinated is still in force in America, so he will not be able to compete in tournaments in the USA until at least April.
Watch Novak Djokovic's interview with the BBC after his expulsion from Australia
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