Rafael Nadal: If Djokovic Wanted To Play The Australian Open, He Could Have

by Staff | January 6th, 2022, 4:10 pm
  • 13 Comments

Rafael Nadal met the press for the first time since Novak Djokovic visa cancellation, and the former No. 1 said that if the Serb wanted to play in Melbourne, he could have. The only thing stopping him was himself by not getting the vaccination.

“From my point of view, that’s the only thing that I can say is I believe in what the people who knows about medicine says, and if the people says that we need to get vaccinated, we need to get the vaccine. That’s my point of view,” he said earlier today.

“I went through the COVID. I have been vaccinated twice. If you do this, you don’t have any problem to play here. That’s the only clear thing.


“The only for me clear thing is if you are vaccinated, you can play in the Australian Open and everywhere, and the world in my opinion have been suffering enough to not follow the rules.

“I feel everyone have to do whatever, whatever feels that is good for him. But there are rules, and if you don’t want to get the vaccine, then you can have some troubles. That’s the thing.

“I think if he wanted, he would be playing here in Australia without a problem,” he added. “He made his own decisions, and everybody is free to take their own decisions, but then there are some consequences.

“Of course I don’t like the situation that is happening. In some way I feel sorry for him. But at the same time, he knew the conditions since a lot of months ago, so he makes his own decision.”

Nadal, who beat Ricardis Berankis is his first match since August, will play the upset-minded Tallon Griekspoor tonight on Rod Laver Arena at the Melbourne warm-up event.

“Super happy to be back in competition. It’s difficult to imagine a better place than here the beginning of the season in Australia,” Nadal said. “It’s only the first match after a while. Honestly, I have been going through some difficult, challenging moments the past year-and-a-half, but in general terms I am super happy to be back in competition.

“Of course it’s important to start with a victory, gives me the chance to play another time tomorrow and that’s the main thing at this moment because I didn’t play for such a long time.”


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13 Comments for Rafael Nadal: If Djokovic Wanted To Play The Australian Open, He Could Have

skeezer Says:

“The only for me clear thing is if you are vaccinated, you can play in the Australian Open and everywhere, and the world in my opinion have been suffering enough to not follow the rules.”
Mic drop.


BT Says:

Nadal says what most reasonable are thinking.


sunshade Says:

Looks to me that Rafa pretends to be smart at the end of the story, and his empathy is just empty words.

What about the visa he got? IMAO that was the trigger for Djokovic to hit the road and take long trip ro Australia with his team. For sure he would not travel without solid documents.


Van Persie Says:

Rafa could have told, that this should be decided by the justice.

“The only for me clear thing is if you are vaccinated, you can play in the Australian Open and everywhere, and the world in my opinion have been suffering enough to not follow the rules.”

That was just stupid, as a person, which gets the exemption from vaccine is allowed to play…lol


Van Persie Says:

But then again, Rafa was always “politically correct”, so there is no surprise in his comments. Not a big fan of too much politically correctness, this is why I like Nole much more.


Giles Says:

Rafa’s message couldn’t be clearer. Get vaccinated and play in the tournament. No vaccination , no participation!


Giles Says:

I am more than surprised that joker wants to play the AO inspite of everything that is going on around him. Can he not leave Australia if he wants to?


PJ Says:

Giles, I believe he can choose to leave at any time if he leaves the country


Madmax Says:

Just a load of hype, to get press coverage.

a) Novak was always going to play
b) This adds to the increasing unease surrounding non-vaccinated players
c)with the worldwide horrific numbers of people dying, getting infected, we all have to be more informed about the consequences of not getting vaccinated. If the rules are, you have to get vaccinated to play, then those are the rules and should be abided by.

It should be that simple. No one is above the law. No one.

All of this hype is so unnecessary.

Really.


Madmax Says:

I am a Novak fan, but I think this is not okay. We are talking about life and death here. Why put others at risk? I don’t understand this.

Skeezer, I agree with you (I think on another thread), of course he is NOT being held prisoner. That’s just ridiculous, but this again, plays into the hands of those who love the hype.

All of this is so unnecessary. We want to see sport at its’ best, its’ most honorable and classy.

This is really sad, all of this.


Dave Says:

Madmax

I’m not taking a side on anything political to make myself clear. But when it comes to isolating COVID-19, which I’ve had by the way, there was a study done with over 10,000 people in each group. One group had COVID 19 in the past and the other group had been vaccinated but hadn’t had COVID 19. Do you know which group got infected more? The vaccinated group was infected 14 times more than the group who previously had COVID 19. 14 times more. So it’s good to look up studies on both sides and dig deeper into things to get facts. I’m not being biased here because I didn’t agree with the tour Novak organized in 2020 when he got the virus in the first place. But I just keep hearing over and over again that vaccinated ones are showing they care about people and ones that aren’t vaccinated aren’t. It’s not that black and white when it’s looked at from an individual perspective and situation. So depending on if you’ve had the virus or not or are vaccinated or not, everyone is in there own unique situation of circumstances. I have a deep respect for human life. And am respectful of other peoples choices as individuals for their unique circumstances. Just to make that clear.


Dave Says:

I absolutely am not writing this to offend anyone on here. There are so many different variables to each situation with each individual person. I have students where they live I was told that having COVID 19 gets you a pass to do things that a fully vaccinated person can do as well. So in some places it’s recognized as equal to getting vaccinated. If an individual doesn’t feel comfortable getting vaccinated at this time, but still takes the precautions to protect other people, who am I to judge them. I know there are some that won’t risk being vaccinated because it could be life threatening because of underlying conditions. Not everything in life Is as simple as black and white. Some might feel that it would be easier if everything was that simple. But that’s not the reality in many different situations in life.

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