The world of tennis continues to turn around with the vaccination of Novak Djokovic. Rafa Nadal, on his return to the ATP circuit in Acapulco, spoke about the Serbian’s situation and his decision not to get vaccinated for the time being, even though it puts his presence at risk in the remaining Grand Slams this season.
“It will affect Djokovic’s story whether or not he can play the rest. Everyone makes their own decisions and has to live with them. Hopefully the pandemic will end and there will be no more deaths in the world. That this horror ends and that everyone can play, whether they are vaccinated or not. It is something small next to what is happening globally due to the worst pandemic in many years,” Nadal said about the situation of the Serb, who will play this week in Dubai without encountering restrictions.
Nadal admitted that he has already recharged his batteries after three weeks off after winning the Australian Open and explained that his life has not changed at all. “Nothing has changed, from 20 to 21 the percentage is not very big. What has changed is that I am able to play tennis. What happened in Australia was totally unexpected, although little by little I was feeling better. I’m not 20 years old, but 35, and there is an experience behind success and bad times, that’s why one approaches these things in a slower and calmer way. I value what happened in Melbourne as a personal success, beyond the fact that it was the 21st title, for everything that had happened before and the effort that it entailed, “he explained.
The current number five in the world attends the Mexican event without great pretensions since he is in a territory that is not favorable to him. «I have had a very difficult first round, because he is one of the most complicated rivals there is now, due to his style of play. Reily
Opelka was champion a week ago and a finalist in this one . I come prepared for a very difficult premiere on Tuesday,” he assured.
«The expectation is to play. I come for two very simple and easy to understand reasons. On the one hand, I have played very little for two years and I feel like it. And on the other, after Australia I had to analyze how my body would respond, I’ve always had a downturn after the Grand Slams and I didn’t notice it at the beginning, but later. But at the level of pain, the body was responding relatively well to me, and that led me to make the decision to come, “he settled.
