‘Personal agreements do not give athlete the right to cross the border!’ Andrey Rublev takes a CHEEKY dig at Novak Djokovic, says he ‘regrets’ everyone is discussing such things instead of tennis
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Andrey Rublev and Novak Djokovic
World No.1 Novak Djokovic has been the center of attraction since the last 2 weeks for all the wrong reasons. The Serbian machine isn’t vaccinated yet and hence received medical exemption to compete at the upcoming Australian Open. But things went south as soon as he landed in Melbourne. He was detained on arrival and got his visa cancelled which he later challenged in the federal court.
He eventually won the case earlier on Monday and was declared a ‘free man’ by the judge. The whole Djokovic visa debacle has gotten the tennis world divided. While some believe that Djokovic was wronged by the Australian government, many claim that he is being unjust to the people of Australia and his fellow players.
World No.5 Andrey Rublev recently spoke on the matter and took a rather strong stand. He said that he didn’t have any issues entering Australia as he’s vaccinated. He also said that the Djokovic situation is very complicated as its federal law directly against personal agreements between Djokovic and Australian Open authorities.
“I didn’t have any problems with entry, since I’m vaccinated. The situation with Novak [Djokovic] is really very complicated. We don’t know all the details. On the one hand, there is a federal law of the country, on the other hand, there are personal agreements between Novak and the tournament,” Rublev told TASS.
‘I can only shrug and regret, that instead of tennis now everyone is discussing such things’: Rublev
Rublev added that he understands all personal agreements but the law of the land is what eventually matters. He also said that it’s rather unfortunate that instead of tennis, the community is talking about the Djokovic situation.
“But yes, personal agreements do not give the athlete the right to cross the border. Because the law of the country is the law – local residents and those who come live according to it. None of us would want to get into such a situation, I can only shrug and regret, that instead of tennis now everyone is discussing such things,” the Russian star added.
On court, Rublev is drawn in the bottom half and has received a fairly easy draw. He faces Italian Gianluca Mager in the opening round and could face fellow countryman and second seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinal.
Also read: Explainer: What if Novak Djokovic is deported after the Australian Open draw?
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Lakshya Chopra
(2650 Articles Published)