“The looks from my colleagues, it hurt me a lot” Novak Djokovic talks about lack of support he had from players during the Australian Open saga
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Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic‘s stay in Australia during January 2022 will always be one of the darkest spots in the history of the sport. The World No. 1 was denied entry into the country, kept in a federal quarantine centre for 5 out of the 10 days he was there and after two court cases, he was ordered to leave the country on the eve of his first-round match at the 2022 Australian Open, the sole purpose of his visit.
Despite massive protests and uproar from Djokovic fans and family members, the player himself did not comment on anything apart from expressing his disappointment on not getting the chance to play and being forced to give up his 3 successive titles without any title defence. Djokovic returned to his home in Belgrade immediately but continued to remain quiet on the subject until recently.
Djokovic finally agreed to give his version of the events in a detailed interview with the BBC where he talked about his perspective on why has he chosen to remain unvaccinated against Covid-19 despite a majority of the medical practitioners recommending it as one of the ways to combat the deadly virus that has wreaked havoc since early 2020.
“Those weren’t the usual kind of training days I would normally have before a Grand Slam competition. Helicopters hovered over each of my Rod Laver Arena workouts and cameras were trained on me. I also felt this energy and these looks from my colleagues and people who were in the tennis centre, it hurt me a lot,” said Djokovic during the interview expressing how the gaze of his fellow players changed towards him after he won the first court case.
“I really wanted to talk to everyone and give my explanation”: Novak Djokovic
The Serbian also talked about why he kept silent during the entire time while events unfolded one after the other, with many of them putting him in the dark light and not in favour of him despite Novak just exercising his right to choose whether or not he will get vaccinated.
“And obviously, I understand that they had a perception based on what they saw in the media. And I haven’t come out in the media, because of what has been said before respecting the legal process and respecting the Australian Open. But at that time, I really wanted to talk to everyone and give my explanation,” added Djokovic further.
With Novak set to return to the Tour for the first time this season when he plays at the upcoming 2022 Dubai Championships, it will be interesting to see how the other players react towards him knowing that he continues to remain unvaccinated and will the reactions be different to what he experienced in Australia.
Also Read: ‘It’s terrible for tennis!’ Pam Shriver SLAMS Novak Djokovic for taking an Anti-Vaccine stand
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Sarthak Shitole
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