Covid-19 at Wimbledon: 3 top-20 men out after positive tests

WIMBLEDON, England — Reigning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic famously decided not to get vaccinated against covid-19, which prevented him from playing at the Australian Open in January, and, as things stand, will prevent him from entering the United States to compete at the U.S. Open in August.

More than two years after the pandemic began, coronavirus cases are on the rise around the world lately, mostly because of certain variants, and the health — and vaccination status — of individual athletes is again a key issue. At Wimbledon, where the All England Club is following British government guidance that requires neither shots nor testing, three of the top 20 seeded men have withdrawn over the first four days of action because they got covid-19, with No. 17 Roberto Bautista Agut pulling out Thursday.

That’s raised the specter of an outbreak among players at the Grand Slam tournament, where there essentially is an honor system: If you don’t feel well, you’re encouraged to get a test on your own. If you test positive, you’re encouraged to reveal that and take yourself out of the bracket.

Nearly all women and men in the top 100 of the WTA or ATP tour rankings got vaccinated.

“Pretty easy: Vaccines work. Everyone has a right to choose, but more or less, the reason we don’t die from diseases from 50 years ago is because we got vaccines,” said eighth-seeded Jessica Pegula. “Of course, it came out really fast, so, sure, there’s always that thought: ‘I hope nothing happens.’ Some people had bad experiences. But for me, I thought it was worth the risk.”

For others tennis players, it was more about ensuring they could continue to make a living.

“The ATP — similar to the NFL, the NBA, MLB — they’re kind of making you get it, in a way. They’re saying: If you don’t get it, you might not be able to play certain tournaments or in these games, and we’re going to kind of make things so miserable that you’re going to have to get it,” said American Sam Querrey. “So for me, it was a combination that I think it was good to get it, and it makes your life a lot easier from a professional standpoint.”

All has been back to pre-pandemic “normal” at Wimbledon this year after 2020, when the tournament was canceled, and 2021, when players were in a bubble-type environment, and stadium capacity was kept low in Week 1 and spectators were required to wear masks.

An All England Club spokesperson said covid-19 policies are “under constant review” and pointed to updates made this week, such as increased cleaning, enhanced ventilation, making masks available to players and recommending that masks be worn on official tournament transportation.

“I didn’t even know that people were testing positive,” said Coco Gauff, the 18-year-old American who was the runner-up at Roland Garros this year, “until I saw another player wearing a mask.”

Asked after her victory Thursday what her level of concern is after the recent run of positive tests, No. 4 seed Paula Badosa replied quickly: “Zero.”

That, the Spanish 24-year-old explained, is both because she is vaccinated and already came down with, as she put it with a laugh, every “type of covid possible.”