“Novak Djokovic isn’t really mean” Nick Kyrgios explains why he backed the Serbian during his Australian Open debacle
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Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic had a trip to forget in Australia this year when he spent more than half of his stay in the Federal quarantine centre as the Australian government had cancelled his visa on two different occasions which eventually led to his deportation from the country a day prior to his first-round match at the 2022 Australian Open where he was the 3-time defending champion.
Djokovic’s refusal to get vaccinated and the Australian government’s policy of compulsory vaccination for all players coming for the Grand Slam led to one of the ugliest incidents in the history of tennis. While players like Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal continued to rally support for pro-vaccination, many others supported Novak’s decision of making a personal call whether or not to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
During this, the Serbian found support in Nick Kyrgios, one of his harshest critics who has often gone on record to dismiss Djokovic for a variety of reasons. Novak and Nick have often been at loggerheads and the Australian coming forward in support of Djokovic and going against the Australian government was a shock to many including Djokovic who then personally messaged Kyrgios thanking him for his support.
“He did a lot of things when we had the bushfires, he supported us. When we needed help, he came to help us. And there we treated him as if he had never done anything, as if he was mean, which he really isn’t. So it makes sense I support it, I would have done it for anyone in the same situation,” said Kyrgios during his appearance on the Australian radio show ‘Kyle and Jackie O’.
Nick Kyrgios had criticised Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas earlier for not supporting Novak Djokovic
With Djokovic deported out of the country, the players continued to receive questions about their own point of view on the entire case. However, with the tournament starting, eventual champion Rafael Nadal and eventual semi-finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas had refused to answer the question anymore as they believed it was high time the focus shifted towards tennis and the Grand Slam.
“On a human level, he needs support from other players. Tsitispas, I get you to have your views on vaccination. Murray, we can always count to say the right thing, Nadal whatever… But bro, where is your support for the guy? Imagine how he’s feeling, he probably wants a little bit of support from other players. And he’s getting it from me, what the f**k?” Kyrgios had said before the tournament where he became the Men’s Doubles Champions eventually.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)