Novak Djokovic said in an interview with the BBC reveal that his son Stefan cheered for Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final. “Every time Rafa scored, he would jump around and cheer with his fist like Rafa did.”
When asked if Stefan would support his father in the direct clash between Djokovic and Nadal, he replied with a laugh: “I hope so.” A few days ago, when Djokovic put his son to bed, he asked him: “When is the next tournament that you participate in and he does too?” When Djokovic replied that hopefully that would be the case soon and that the father wanted to know the reason for the request, Stefan explained: “I really want to take a picture with him.”
In the course of the discussions about the unvaccinated world number one, who was not allowed to take part in the Australian Open due to his vaccination status, the later winner Nadal was also asked for his opinion before the tournament started. “The Australian Open is more important than any player. It’s going to be a great Australian Open, with or without him.”
Although he respects his opponent “as a person, of course, and undoubtedly as an athlete”, he “did not agree with many things Novak has done in recent weeks. If there is a solution to the problems, then it is the one Vaccination. We need to get vaccinated.” Nadal later won the final against Russian Daniil Medvedev in four sets and thus won his 21st Grand Slam title – one more than Djokovic and Roger Federer can boast.
Djokovic insisted BBC-Interview also on his attitude that he does not want to be vaccinated at the moment and thus also risks participating in the upcoming Grand Slams in Paris and Wimbledon. “Yes, that’s the price I’m willing to pay.” In principle, however, he was “never against vaccinations” and could also imagine vaccination in the future, “because we all have to try together to find the best possible solution to end Covid”. However, the Serb advocates making this decision independently.
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