“Novak Djokovic is the GOAT but he’s now stuck in the mud” Patrick McEnroe unhappy with the Serbian for being ‘ready to give up Grand Slams’


“Novak Djokovic is the GOAT but he’s now stuck in the mud” Patrick McEnroe unhappy with the Serbian for being ‘ready to give up Grand Slams’

Patrick McEnroe, Novak Djokovic

World No. 1 for 360 weeks, Novak Djokovic has been one of the most dominant players in the past decade breaking the dominance of close rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and making his place in history alongside them. Djokovic was on 17 Grand Slam titles when he started the 2021 season and by the time he reached New York for the 2021 US Open, he had tied both Federer and Nadal on 20 Slams each.

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Djokovic was unfortunate to miss out on the US Open title last year as World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev beat him in the finals in straight-sets to win his first major and deny Djokovic the chance to become the first man to win 21 majors and also complete the very rare Calendar Slam. The 2022 season has however been completely opposite for him so far.

Being the favourite to win the 2022 Australian Open title, Djokovic was deported out of Australia one day before his first-round match at the Grand Slam as he lost his second appeal to get his visa and stay in the country unvaccinated against Covid-19, against the Australian policy of compulsory vaccination for all foreigners. In a recent interview with BBC, Djokovic declared that he remains unvaccinated and hinted that at least until he is retired from the sport, he might not take the vaccine.

“Novak Djokovic has clearly been the best tennis player in the world and in my opinion he is the greatest player I have seen in all time. But he is bypassing the opportunity as he did in Australia to continue to do what he does. All these players who have been vaccinated, seem to do okay. Seem to be managing pretty well.

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“He spent the entire last 10 to 15 years chasing down Roger Federer, chasing down Rafael Nadal. He finally caught them & he was ready to sprint past them. And now he’s stuck in the mud because of this decision to not take the vaccine,” said Patrick McEnroe on Sports Center expressing his sadness on Djokovic ready to give up the chance to go unanimously as the greatest tennis player.

Novak Djokovic nearly out of French Open, some hope for participation in Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic

The French government will be making vaccinations compulsory for its foreign nationals in the coming weeks as per reports, which would mean that Djokovic who is the defending champion at Roland Garros this year will not be allowed to play and will have to give up his title without any defence, missing his second straight Slam this season.

However, there is some respite from across the English Channel as for the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, so far there is no such policy of the government that requires compulsory vaccination for foreign nationals entering the country, which could allow Novak but he will be subjected to a strict bio-bubble and regular testing.

Also Read: “Rafael Nadal has a tennis court in his garden and nobody calls him spoiled” Jo-Wilfried Tsonga hits out on media for calling French players ‘spoiled’

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