“If you are not vaccinated, then don’t come” Pablo Carreno Busta lashes out at Novak Djokovic


“If you are not vaccinated, then don’t come” Pablo Carreno Busta lashes out at Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic and Pablo Carreno Busta

Novak Djokovic‘s saga of participation at the 2022 Australian Open has overshadowed the Grand Slam as the focus has completely shifted to the 9-time champion’s participation. Upon his arrival in Melbourne, he was denied his visa and taken into the federal quarantine centre as his lawyers fought the case in court.

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While the Serbian won his court appeal, doubts continue to loom over his participation as the Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke can still cancel his visa and deport him out of the country. Amidst all this, many players have come ahead and criticised Djokovic for causing this problem when the rule was clear that no unvaccinated person will be allowed.

The latest player to join the conversation is Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta, who defeated Djokovic in the Bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics last year. While Busta had called out the different treatment towards Djokovic during the Olympics as well, he was again not in favour of the Serbian pleading his case in Australia.

“What you have to do is get vaccinated. If you are not vaccinated, then don’t come. Now it’s a tricky situation because if he pulls out, the draw changes,” said Pablo as reporeted by Eurosport. Pablo pointed out that given Djokovic is the topmost seed, his removal from the draw will affect the entire and the tournament might have to schedule a re-draw of the fixtures.

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Final decision on Novak Djokovic case to come on Sunday

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic

Minister Hawke has decided to exercise his power and has cancelled Djokovic’s visa for the second time in two weeks which has given the rise to yet another court case while Novak has been taken into the federal quarantine hotel once again as he will now spend a night there awaiting the result on Sunday.

With the top-half of the main-draw of the 2022 Australian Open set to play on Day-1, i.e. 17th January, it will be a busy day for Tennis Australia as possible omission of Djokovic from the draw will lead to many consequences for the tournament. As for Djokovic, he now stands on the verge of being banned entry into Australia for the next 3 years.

Also Read: “One day Novak Djokovic’s father will regret the statements he made,” Boris Becker talks about the Djokovic family’s actions during Novak’s case