“It’s crazy to think that somebody in his position is going to stick to his beliefs”- Rob Steckley defends Novak Djokovic’s anti-vax stance
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Novak Djokovic and Rob Steckley
During the start of the year, Novak Djokovic grabbed headlines all over the world for the wrong reason. He stuck to his controversial anti-vaccine stance which saw him kicked out of Australia, thus ending his title defense at the Australian Open before it even began. Despite the ordeal he went through, the Serb said he would live by his choices and is ready to bear the brunt of it, even if it means missing out on tournaments.
While he received criticism from all over the world for his stance, there are some who actively defended him. This was the case with Canadian tennis coach Rob Steckley as well. Steckley, who has coached top players including Denis Shapovalov and Lucie Safarova, began by saying, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic are truly remarkable in terms of their longevity. Steckley then went on to say the duo has different mindsets and now wants to accomplish different goals.
“Nadal and Djokovic are incredible at being able to stay out on the road. I think they’re at a different stage in their career or whatever, they want to accomplish different things,” he said in a recent episode of the tennis podcast Match Point Canada.
Rob Steckley weighs in on Novak Djokovic’s anti-vax stance
The Canadian then praised Djokovic for sticking to his beliefs despite all the future over his vaccine stance. Steckley expressed his admiration for the Serb, for going against the majority and sticking to his position. Djokovic earlier said he has his own principles when it comes to vaccines, but firmly denied he was an anti-vaxxer.
“You have Djokovic who is sticking to his beliefs on you know against, what was it, not getting fully vaccinated? I’m definitely not statistically inclined so bear with me, but I do know that his beliefs are something that he believes in and that’s what he stands by and it’s crazy to think that somebody that’s in his position is going to stick to his guns amongst everything that’s happening against the world. So he’s basically going against it. I find that also incredibly admirable,” Steckley added.
As for Djokovic, he will finally return to some on-court action at the Monte Carlo Masters next month. The curtain raiser for the clay-court season will be Djokovic’s first match since his quarter-final exit at the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships and also just his second tournament of the year. The 34-year-old recently reclaimed his World No.1 ranking, but it might be short-lived as Daniil Medvedev is just one win away from dethroning the Serb. The Russian needs to win his quarter-final match against Hubert Hurkacz at the 2022 Miami Open to reclaim the top spot.
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