‘See you in January’: Did Daniil Medvedev just clear up Australian Open vaccine status row?

Russian star Daniil Medvedev has signaled he will play the Australian Open in January, after speculation swirled around whether the world number two would make an appearance in Melbourne due to Covid vaccine regulations.

“See you in January!” Medvedev tweeted on Tuesday, tagging the Australian Open and sharing an image of himself holding the runner-up prize from the 2021 final, where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic. 

As recently as the end of October, Medvedev had refused to confirm whether he would be at the opening Grand Slam of the new season, telling journalists: “I am willing to play in Australia, but I won't say if you will see me there in January.”

Those comments came as Medvedev – like world number one Djokovic – declined to reveal whether he had been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Full vaccination will allow players freedom of movement in Australia, while there is still political in-fighting on whether unjabbed players will be allowed at the tournament. 

Even if they are, they will almost certainly be subjected to a two-week period of hard quarantine.

Medvedev, 25, previously said he wants to keep his vaccination status private, but that “if you are playing Australia, you are clearly vaccinated.”

After the US Open champion’s confirmation that he will be in Melbourne, observers will draw conclusions as to what that means for his current or future vaccine status, or possibly whether he has information on the terms and conditions for players attending. 

Medvedev has faced scrutiny alongside Serbian star Djokovic, whom he faced in the final of the Paris Masters last weekend.

Djokovic came back to win that battle in three sets, and the pair will be tipped as favorites for the Melbourne title, should they both travel.

READ MORE: Novak’s revenge: Djokovic dethrones Medvedev in thriller to bag Paris Masters title in tussle of tennis top 2 in the world (VIDEO)

Unlike Medvedev, Djokovic has yet to confirm that he will play Down Under.

“I’m going to decide on whether I go to Australia or not after I see the official statement from Tennis Australia,” Djokovic had said ahead of the Paris Masters.

“Right now, we don’t have any official announcement or statement.

"So until that’s out, I won’t be talking about this anymore, because I don’t want to be part of the stories about the assumptions and what-ifs.”