During that discussion, it was basically agreed that the way the Aussie Open/Australian Tennis/Australian government handled the situation was very poor. There was no disagreement on that.mick1303 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 12, 2022 3:35 am ...
Djokovic, as you remember, was promised by Australian tennis federation that he will get medical exemption and on this ground will enter the country. But some reporters decided to milk this situation and created "public outcry", which some politicians then in turn decided to milk and denied him the entry. Australians can do whatever they pleased with their entry policy. But if it differs significantly from the majority of other countries, then they lose the right to call their championship "open".
About Australia's C19 policy being different from other countries: It is the same as in (for example) the USA, Canada, ALL S. American countries, and many more. Mandatory vaccination is very much the norm in many countries.
And about being "Open". A tennis tournament is not above country laws. Again, as an example. Any Venezuelan player that would qualify and wanted to play Wimbledon would still need a UK Visa. Maybe the LTA could provide a letter for his/her application to be considered in a better way ("We guarantee that this person indeed plans to compete at The Championships"), but there have been enough cases during the history of the sport in which a player has missed a tournament due to a visa problem.
What is your opinion then of the USO, IF the US Govt does not allow him entry?