Since the start of the Djokovic affair, few players have dared to position themselves openly against the world No. 1, even if we have fully understood the substance of the thought of “philosopher” Rafael Nadal. Stefanos Tsitsipas, he has taken the criticism up a notch.
Asked to speak on the case of the Serbian as part of an operation organized by his sponsors, the Greek, No. 4 at ATP, was not kind to the nine-time winner of the Australian Open . “Djokovic has set his own rules, that’s for sure. He has done something that few players have dared to do since ATP and Tennis Australia announced certain criteria for entering Australia, first argued the Athenian, winner in particular of the Masters in 2019. Nobody thought be able to come without being vaccinated among the players. It takes a lot of daring to do that, to take the risk of not playing a Grand Slam tournament… ”
We would almost see a hint of admiration in a player who has always been reluctant in the face of vaccination but who ended up going through the injection box at the end of 2021 to be able to exercise his profession without constraint. According to the ATP, 97 of the top 100 in the world are also vaccinated.
“But it looks like not everyone follows Tennis Australia and government rules,” Tsitsipas continued, however. And this very small minority (Editor’s note: Djokovic) makes the majority of other players look like idiots, in a way. “
Pending the decision of the Australian immigration minister, Djokovic is still the No. 1 seed in the first Grand Slam of the season, where he has to face his compatriot Kecmanovic for his entry into the running.
Earlier in the week, the Hungarian Márton Fucsovics, who is 37 places behind the Belgradois in the standings, had expressed his wrath to his national media M4Sport. “Djokovic is the greatest tennis player in the sport, he wins everything, he’s won nine times here in Melbourne too, so he deserves to be here and start. However, we must not go beyond what is happening in the world right now. People’s health is paramount, and there are rules that were laid out months ago, that everyone should get vaccinated, and Djokovic didn’t. From that point of view, I don’t think he has the right to be here, he said. In addition, members of the tennis community took a rather negative reaction to the fact that the world number 1 could be present in Australia and received an exemption, as they felt it was not fair. “