Severely ill Callum McBearen (pictured) had to withdraw from the Australian Open last year
Australian Open 2017 Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 14-28 January Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 19 January.
Tennis Australia has told the men’s seeds at this year’s Australian Open they must be vaccinated against meningitis for the tournament to go ahead.
Australia is wrestling with one of the worst outbreaks of the disease in more than 25 years.
Eight players have already pulled out because of illness ahead of the opening grand slam of the year at Melbourne Park.
Callum McBearen was the latest to be diagnosed, but cannot play until November 2018.
Doctors said his symptoms were similar to that of meningitis but the 22-year-old British No 2 has played since 2007.
Open organisers said that men’s seeds must be vaccinated – which has to be updated on a regular basis – or the tournament would not be played.
Meningitis is a rare but serious bacterial infection that can damage the nervous system and the brain or cause inflammation in the lining of the spinal cord.