Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are on good terms, but they definitely disagree about vaccinations. The Spanish champion has always been extremely vocal on how important it is to be vaccinated in order to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Novak Djokovic doesn’t seem to share the same opinion and if he played the Australian Open, he will be the only player competing in the main draw (men and women) not vaccinated.
It is not clear yet if Novak Djokovic will be allowed to play in the Australian Open after the government revoked his visa for the second time.
All players are asked to comment about the situation during their press conference. While most of them are reluctant to express their opinion, Rafael Nadal commented:
“I tell you one thing, it’s very clear that Novak Djokovic is one of the best players of the history, without a doubt. But there is no one player in history that’s more important than an event, no?
The players stay and then go, and other players are coming. No one, even Roger, Novak, myself, Bjorn Borg, who was amazing at his times, tennis keep going.
Australian Open is much more important than any player. If he’s playing finally, okay. If he’s not playing, the Australian Open will be a great Australian Open with or without him. That’s my point of view.”
Rafael Nadal in 2022
Currently the world no.6, Rafael played his last match on the 9th of January when he overcame world no.75 Maxime Cressy 7-6(6) 6-3 in the final in Melbourne to win his 89th career title.
Until now, during this year Nadal owns a 3-0 win-loss record. The Spaniard conquered 1 title in Melbourne.
Novak Djokovic in 2022
LWWWLWLWWW Now ranked no.1, the Serbian played his last match on the 3rd of December 2021 when he defeated world no.29 Marin Cilic 6-4 6-2 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).
Until now, during this year the Serbian has a composed 0-0 win-loss record.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic clashed against each other 58 times. The head to head is 30-28 for Djokovic. Previously, the last time when they played each other, Novak Djokovic won 3-6 6-3 7-6(4) 6-2 in the semifinal in Paris (French Open) in June 2021.
Here the highlights.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic |
| Embed from Getty Images |
