November 15, (THEWILL) – Novak Djokovic’s controversial stance on vaccination has come under further scrutiny after Spanish tennis icon Rafael Nadal noted that unvaccinated individuals were selfish.
Nadal hopes to return to competitive activity at the Australian Open in January, but Djokovic’s participation is in doubt due to his refusal to reveal his immunisation status. If Djokovic does not change his stance, Australia may refuse him entry, making him the recent focus of a series of unsavoury tennis reports.
For instance, the Greek authorities had to chastise Stefanos Tsitsipas when he stated that letting COVID-19 to spread throughout the pilotin population would be helpful, despite the fact that roughly 35% of players were believed to be unvaccinated as of late October.
Nadal has contributed millions of his money for pandemic assistance through a charity with fellow Spaniard and six-time NBA All-Star Pau Gasol, as well as the Red Cross, and the 20-time Grand Slam champion is angry with individuals who have yet to receive the vaccine.
“I understand that there are people who do not want to be vaccinated, but it seems a bit selfish to me,” Nadal told Marca. “We have suffered a lot.
“We do not know 100 percent the effects of vaccines, but we do have to trust the doctors… We do know the effect of the virus if we are not vaccinated.
“It seems that today we [Spain] are the country that is least affected by the virus and I think it is because we have a large part of the population vaccinated.”
THEWILL recalls that Djokovic has won each of Melbourne’s previous three events, defeating Nadal in the final two years ago. With 20 Grand Slam victories, the Spaniard is tied with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, though Nadal has had the least success in Australia.
In 2009, he won the Australian Open for the first time, defeating Federer in a five-set final. And, while Nadal hopes to return to on-court play ahead of the 2022 season opener in Melbourne, he is concentrating on the COVID-19 relief efforts with Gasol.
“We are all tired of this situation,” the 35-year-old said. “These are complicated years. Many people have lost close people. We had to take a step forward to try to help, put [in] a grain of sand and give help to people.”
Since the 2020 French Open, Nadal has not won a Grand Slam. After losing to Djokovic at Roland Garros this year, the Spanish superstar withdrew from Wimbledon and the Olympic Games before announcing his retirement ten days before the start of the US Open due to an injury setback, as THEWILL reported.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
