Over the past few weeks, ATP, led by Italian Andrea Gaudenzi, has been asking players to receive their vaccine dose when possible, promising numerous rewards and benefits in return.
However, not everyone agreed: among them the Serb Novak Djokovic, who had already shown a certain reluctance towards vaccines in the past. In an interview that was also published on the Essentially Sports website, the 18-time Grand Slam champion explained the reasons for his disagreement with the ATP.
“I’ve heard that players who are vaccinated get benefits and better living conditions,” commented Novak. “There are a lot of unknowns, ambiguities and illogical things.” The world number one also suggested that the ATP obey the rules set by the management of the various tournaments on the tour rather than follow their own protocols: “I can’t say anything until the ATP makes a decision, at least as far as our sport is concerned. “
Last year, the Belgrade champion founded the controversial PTPA (‘Professional Tennis Players Association’) together with the Canadian Vasek Pospisil, an institution that was founded in open opposition to the ATP in order to meet the requirements of the players 100%, many of them they were dissatisfied with the management of the pandemic.
Djokovic has decided to take part in the Serbia Open, an event on the grand tour that ran from 2009 to 2012 and then was canceled, only to return to the calendar this year.
Novak’s last success in Belgrade dates back ten years when he defeated Feliciano Lopez 7-6, 6-3 in the last game. In 2012 the Italian Andreas Seppi won the final against the French Benoit Paire in straight sets.
Filip Krajinovic and Dusan Lajovic – both at the draw in Belgrade – have now received the vaccine. Novak Djokovic took a comfortable win against Kwon Soon-woo in the second round of the Serbia Open on Wednesday.
The Serb will now face compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarter-finals of the ATP 250 event. He also talked about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic on Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer
“We have probably convinced many that we can play perfectly every week for the rest of our lives, but that is not possible,” said Novak Djokovic.
“There’s nothing strange about that, it’s just a weak week, the opponents are good and that’s it. Like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and I have been dominant for 15 years.” The 33-year-old went on to claim that both he and Nadal had to get used to playing against a newer generation of players, which is not easy.
“They have a new generation of players, we have to adapt to see how we progress and how we can adapt our game to those who challenge us now,” Djokovic added. Photo credit: Twitter
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