Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka thinks it’s “bizarre” that US Open fans have to be vaccinated while tennis players do not.
On Wednesday, Azarenka spoke with reporters following her second-round win over Jasmine Paolini, saying she believes it is inevitable that vaccines will be mandated for WTA players at some point.
“I don’t see the point of stalling it, because we all want to be safe, we all want to continue doing our jobs, and I know there is a lot of discussions about it,” she said.
The tennis start then added that she respects people’s opinions to not get the vaccine, so long as “it’s not a conspiracy theory.”
“If you actually have decent knowledge and looked into research and have your facts and stats and research, that’s a different conversation,” she said. “But I feel that that part of the conversation that, really, you need to be knowledgeable to what you’re saying, is missing in a lot of players.”
On Friday, Azarenka lost to Garbiñe Muguruza in a hard fought, three set match, 4-6, 6-3, 2-6.