Agovernment official said on Tuesday that unvaccinated tennis players and other athletes are unlikely to be granted visas to enter Australia, putting Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open title defence and pursuit for the Grand Slam record in jeopardy.

Novak Djokovic, who shares 20 Grand Slam titles with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, refused to declare his vaccination status again this week, saying he was unsure if he would defend his Australian Open title while authorities worked out COVID-19 limitations for the tournament.

Daniel Andrews, the Premier of Victoria, expressed concern that any unvaccinated athletes would be permitted into the country, let alone Victoria, which hosts the Australian Open in Melbourne.

“I don’t think an unvaccinated tennis player is going to get a visa to come into this country and if they did get a visa they’d probably have to quarantine for a couple of weeks,” Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews told a media briefing.

“I don’t think that the person you indicated (Djokovic) or any other tennis player, let’s not personalise it … or golfer or Formula One driver will even get a visa to get here.

“If I’m wrong I’m sure the federal government will let you know.

“(The virus) doesn’t care what your tennis ranking is, or how many Grand Slams you’ve won. It’s completely irrelevant. You need to be vaccinated to keep yourself safe and to keep others safe.”

Tennis Australia, which organises the Australian Open, did not respond immediately.

Victoria recently enacted a vaccine mandate for professional athletes, but did not specify whether it would apply to athletes from other Australian states or from foreign countries.

Andrews proposed that the rule applied to foreign athletes, and that special accommodations should not be made for athletes competing in high-profile tournaments.

“On the question of vaccination, no,” he said.

“Professional sport is part of those (items on the) authorised worker list and they have to be double-dose vaccinated.

“This is here for a while …. We’re not going to be essentially encouraging people to not get vaccinated because they reckon they can wait a few months or a few weeks.

“You can’t wait out coronavirus.”