Earlier this year, players arriving for the 2021 edition of the tournament could have five hours out of their hotel room each day to train, but those on flights with passengers who tested positive were forced to undergo a ‘hard’ quarantine and couldn’t leave the room for two weeks – something many players said they were unaware could happen.
Djokovic attempted to bargain with Tennis Australia and the government at the time to make exceptions for these players but was unsuccessful, and recently voiced his issue with the hard quarantine when casting doubt over his participation in Melbourne.
He told Serbian newspaper Blic: “The main problem is that if you are on a plane with a person who is positive, whether you are vaccinated or not, you automatically have to go to the room for 14 days.
“That happened to Viktor Troicki in January this year. Not only him, but also 70 players had to be quarantined. I talked to a lot of players and that is something that everyone has a bad memory of.”
The world No 1 also expressed him uncertainty over competing this year, adding: “I don’t know if I’m going to Australia, I don’t know what’s going on. Currently, the situation is not good at all.
“I have my opinion and it has always been the same. I will not reveal my status whether I have been vaccinated or not.”
