Andy Murray would ‘support’ harsher quarantine for unvaxxed tennis players

A tennis legend would ‘support’ any moves from the Victorian government to enforce stricter quarantine measures for un-vaxxed tennis players.

Andy Murray said he would support the Victorian government’s decision to implement harsher quarantine restrictions for unvaxxed players competing in the Australian Open. Picture: Frederic J. Brown / AFP

British tennis star Andy Murray said he would “support” any move from the Victorian government to impose harsher quarantine restrictions on unvaccinated players arriving for the Australian Open.

Victorian Sports Minister Martin Pakula told SEN on Tuesday if he “was an ATP or WTA player, I’d be getting vaccinated” because it would give them “the best opportunity to play in the Australian Open with the more minimal restrictions”.

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A number of high-profile tennis players, including Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas, have been outspoken in their reluctance to get vaccinated.

Should their stance remain by the time the Australian Open rolls around in January, they will likely face stricter hotel quarantine restrictions than their fully vaccinated peers.

But Murray believes the Victorian government had every right to enforce certain restrictions in order to protect its people.

“My understanding is if you’re unvaccinated, you’re still allowed to play, it’s just the rules are going to be different,” Murray told reporters after his loss at the Indian Wells tournament.

“Obviously Australia in particular has been very, very strict over there.

Andy Murray said he would support the Victorian government implementing harsher quarantine restrictions for unvaxxed tennis players arriving for the Australian Open. Picture: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images / AFP

“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 or whatever, yeah that’s understandable.

“It’s not to say you can’t play. You just might have to leave a few weeks earlier than everyone else. That’s the player’s choice.

“If the local government puts that in place, then yeah, I would support that.”

The Victorian government recently imposed a mandate that forces every authorised worker in the state to have at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by October 15 to continue working on site, and professional or high-performance sportspersons fall under that umbrella.

The Australian sporting landscape has seen notable commitment from athletes to get vaccinated, as 99 per cent of all NBL players are either fully vaccinated or have had their first dose of a Covid vaccine.

In the AFL, both the Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs confirmed their entire teams have had at least one dose of a Covid vaccine.