Austria’s Minister of Health Wolfgang Mückstein has told Dominic Thiem to get vaccinated. “There are 30-year-olds in intensive care. All the current vaccines available are safe and have been used a billion times.”, Mückstein said.

This week, Dominic Thiem was banned from his home tournament, the Vienna Open, because he was not vaccinated. Thiem is waiting for Novavax to be approved.

I am waiting for Novavax vaccine to be approved. If it doesn’t work within the end of November, I will take another vaccine.

– Dominic Thiem

But the health minister Mückstein said that inactivated vaccines such as Novavax are not better than current vaccines on the market.

Thiem is not the only player reluctant to take the vaccine. World number 1 Novak Djokovic has also been coy about his vaccination status. Reports indicate that the players will need to be vaccinated to play the Australian Open.

Thiem has been out of action due to a persistent wrist injury. He has recently started training again and is expected to return to competition at the Australian Open.

Alexander Zverev doesn’t like the new Davis Cup format that has been in place for two years. He will be boycotting the tournament this year. Zverev has not played Davis Cup since the format was changed two years ago.

The format has to be changed and I’m sticking to that. I am someone who keeps his word. I want to win the Davis Cup, but I want to win the real Davis Cup.

– Alexander Zverev

The International Tennis Federation changed Davis Cup to an 18-team event that is held over one week and a half. The format change has been criticized by many players as it’s held in a neutral venue, where most teams will not have home fans.

This year’s Davis Cup will be held in three cities  – Innsbruck, Austria, Turin. Italy and Madrid, Spain over 11 days from November 25 to December 5. Top players including Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Matteo Berrettini, and Jannik Sinner are expected to participate in this year’s edition.