Natalia Vikhlyantseva becomes first tennis player to skip 2022 Australian Open due to Sputnik V vaccine
World No.194 Natalia Vikhlyantseva has announced that she will not be participating at the 2022 Australian Open despite being fully vaccinated. The Russian revealed that she had taken the Sputnik V vaccine, which is not verified by Australian authorities, thereby making her intelligible to compete at the tournament.
Vikhlyantseva took to Twitter on Monday to announce the news. She stated that she was looking forward to playing in Australia but would not be able to do so.
"Unfortunately, I will not participate in this year AO event. I’m really happy with a level of tennis I showed on a last few events and I wish to play in Australia but Sputnik is not verified yet. Good luck for all participants and AO team, who always made amazing events!" she wrote.
Unfortunately, I will not participate in this year AO event. I’m really happy with a level of tennis I showed on a last few events and I wish to play in 🇦🇺 but Sputnik is not verified yet. Good luck for all participants and AO team, who always made amazing events!🎾🦘 https://t.co/l2UDmUmSF8
The former World No. 54 was not part of the Australian Open's entry list, but was expected to play in the qualifiers. She competed in qualifying in Melbourne this year, losing to Valeria Savinykh in the first round.
The 24-year-old's best Grand Slam results have come at the Australian Open, where she made it to the second round in 2017 and 2019.
Natalia Vikhlyantseva has become the first recognized player to skip the tournament citing the unapproved status of Sputnik V. This has, hence, called into question the participation of other Russian athletes as well.
Further questions have also arisen regarding players from other countries like Argentina, where Sputnik V is one of the major approved vaccines. The announcement also led to tennis fans rallying to Vikhlyantseva's support, blaming the Australian government for unfairly preventing her from playing.
@CristinaNcl Such a shame for Nata. Would she have been in qualies? Sputnik is clearly approved by many countries so I'm surprised there are no other players in the same boat. Perhaps the WTA/ATP gave players guidance on this.
Too late for this event but hoping it will be WHO approved soon.
What are the vaccines that will permit athletes to play at the 2022 Australian Open?
As of today, there are eight vaccines on the list approved by the Australian government. Players fully vaccinated with any of them will be allowed to compete at the 2022 Australian Open.
The Australian authorities verified:
• AstraZeneca Vaxzevria
• AstraZeneca COVISHIELD
• Pfizer/Biontech Comirnaty
• Moderna Spikevax
• Sinovac Coronavac
• Bharat Covaxin
• Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV (for ages 18-60 only)
• Johnson & Johnson / Jansseen-Cilag COVID Vaccine twitter.com/NVikhlyantseva…
These are:
- Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine - branded as Covishield in India and Vaxzevria in the European Union
- Pfizer-BioNTech's Comirnaty
- Moderna's Spikevax
- Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac
- Bharat Biotech's Covaxin
- Sinopharm's BIBP Vaccine
- Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 Vaccine.
Sputnik V is also not ratified by the World Health Organization, since Russia has not yet provided the complete documentation to verify its efficacy.
However, WHO has stated that it expects to receive the proper reports by the end of this year from Russia. This would pave the way for widespread approval from other countries as well. Victoria's mandate also requires that the competing players be fully vaccinated. This could also put doubts on Novak Djokovic's participation as the Serb has decided to remain discreet on his vaccination status.
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