Benoit Paire has a message for unvaccinated players: Stay home.
Paire, who was one of the first players on the ATP Tour to take the Coronavirus vaccine, was asked about the 2022 Australian Open vaccine policy following his opening-round exit at the Rolex Paris Masters.
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The 47th-ranked Frenchman advised unvaccinated players not to take the trip down under and said "if they don't play, all the better for me."
"There is no quarantine anymore in Melbourne if you're vaccinated," Paire told the media in Paris. "Those that are not vaccinated, I don't care about them. If they don't play, all the better for me.
"I stayed 14 days for the Open, stayed 14 days in lockdown because I was positive. I don't care about the other players. I'm motivated to have a great season next year. If there are some people who are reluctant to get vaccinated, then they should stay in Europe. It's not my problem. You have to be vaccinated to go to Australia. I am vaccinated and I'm looking forward to playing there."
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who has declined to disclose if he's vaccinated, has said he's waiting for an official statement from Tennis Australia before deciding if he will defend his Australian Open crown. Paire said he will be in Australia and does not care if unvaccinated players opt out.
"At the US Open, everybody was saying that they were going to go on a strike, that they said that they shouldn't get vaccinated to go to Australia, that they were not going to play. But when the season starts again, everybody wants to play," Paire said. "I remember that I played Fognini just after I was positive at the US Open, because I was in lockdown for 14 days.
"As I told you, I don't care about the others. It's not my problem. But I am ready to have a wonderful 2022 season."
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve