Melbourne (dpa) – Nearly a fifth of tennis professionals have yet to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, two months before the Australian Open kicks off.

On Saturday, the WTA on-call confirmed the vaccination rate for the top 100 players on the WTA Tour of nearly 80 percent. All players who participated in the WTA Finals of the Year have been vaccinated. The men’s organization also announced that the vaccination rate was about 80 percent.

A number of professionals have been vaccinated with it in the past few weeks. At the end of October, the association announced that about 65 percent had been vaccinated. The WTA stated that “more than 60 percent” of female players were fully protected from vaccination.

The vaccination quota has also become a focus because only vaccinated professionals are allowed to participate in the Australian Open from January 17-30. Tournament director Craig Tilly confirmed on Saturday in Melbourne. The case of vaccinating world number one Serbian Novak Djokovic has been discussed in the tennis arena for weeks. The 20-time Grand Slam winner has not revealed whether he has been vaccinated. He said it was a private matter.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211120-99-72404 / 3