“You messed up everything from A to Z”- Ion Tiriac lashes out at Novak Djokovic over anti-vax stance


“You messed up everything from A to Z”- Ion Tiriac lashes out at Novak Djokovic over anti-vax stance

Novak Djokovic and Ion Tiriac

At the start of the year, Novak Djokovic was in a prime position to bag his 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and solidify his status as one of the greatest tennis players. But the Serb’s decision to not take a vaccine meant he was not allowed to defend his title in Australia and to make matters worse, Rafael Nadal lifted his 2nd Australian Open crown to become the first male player to win 21 Grand Slam singles titles. Djokovic has played only one tournament so far this year and his inactivity for most of the year resulted in him losing his World No.1 ranking to Daniil Medvedev.

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Former Romanian tennis player and billionaire Ion Tiriac expressed his opinion on Novak Djokovic’s vaccination stance. Tiriac said he was completely flummoxed by the Serb’s decision to not take a Covid jab. He added that he was appalled that Djokovic didn’t do what 99% of the world did and instead followed the vocal minority and is now facing the brunt of his consequences as a result.

I have a decent relationship with Djokovic, here is the tournament from Bucharest being played in Belgrade today, but … Djokovic wanted to prove something that I did not understand, something that great athletes do not do. Weren’t you confused because of the lies in which “You don’t want what? You don’t want what 99 percent of people want and that’s why you’ll be in the 1 percent who aren’t allowed to move. You messed up everything from A to Z,” Tiriac said in an interview with a TV show ‘Friends of Ovid’.

Tiriac was initially a professional hockey player before he made a switch to tennis. He won his maiden Grand Slam title with compatriot Ilie Nastase at the 1970 French Open. After his retirement, Tiriach took upon a coaching career and mentored many top players including Goran Ivanisevic and Marat Safin.

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Novak Djokovic is a great athlete but Nadal is genius” – Tiriac

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal

Tiriac then went on to compare Djokovic’s behavior with that of Boris Becker and termed it as childish. The Romanian also said that Djokovic might be a great tennis player but is very different from Rafael Nadal, who is still down to earth and level-headed despite all the success he has achieved in tennis.

” Djokovic is looking for his place and he can’t find it. He is like Becker, like a child who plays with fire and puts his hand up to see if it burns or not. Djokovic is a great athlete, a very good tennis player, but to be a great champion … It’s Nadal! In my opinion, Nadal is, not in tennis, but in sports, a genius who stayed with both feet on the ground, who behaves the same as when he was 15,” he added.

Also read: ‘One legend to another,’ Rafael Nadal roots for MotoGP Champ Marc Márquez