World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has been the talk of the tennis world lately. Over the course of the past 72 hours, the Serbian champion managed to secure his medical exemption for playing the Australian Open.

However, his campaign took an unexpected sour turn when border forces in Melbourne detained him and threatened him with immediate deportation.

Now, Rafael Nadal has spoken about this strange situation and given his take on it.

Rafael Nadal has stern words for Novak Djokovic

Nadal and Djokovic have been rivals for over a decade now. In fact, both the players are tied at 20 all-time Grand Slam championships as well. Now, the Spanish legend has decided to speak about the situation, and about Novak Djokovic‘s anti-vaccination stance.

As a matter of fact, Rafa had already contracted the coronavirus in December 2021. The Spaniard then focused on recovery in order to play in the Australian Summer of Tennis.

Thus, it is quite obvious that he has taken offense to Novak Djokovic’s anti-vaccination stance. According to Rafa, the situation is “not good for no one.” He gives a reminder of the impact the virus has had on the world. “We have been going through very challenging and a lot of families have been suffering a lot,” he said.

José Morgado

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Full Rafa quote.

Tumaini Carayol

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Rafael Nadal's full answer today on Djokovic's situation. "From my point of view, the only thing that I can say is I believe in what the people who knows about medicine says, and if the people says that we need to get vaccinated, we need to get the vaccine."

6:45 AM · Jan 6, 2022

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He then talked about contracting the disease himself, and how getting vaccinated would have ensured that Novak would not have had any trouble in playing the Australian Open. “If you do this (double vaccination), you don’t have any problem to play here,” Rafa stated.

ALSO READ: ‘We Will Gather on the Street’- Novak Djokovic’s Dad Says the Team Will Protest on the Streets of Australia if They Don’t Let Him Play

Rafa then stated how Novak Djokovic was free to make his own decisions. However, some of those decisions are ought to have consequences, which the World No. 1 is currently facing. “Everyone is free to take their own decisions, but then there are some consequences, no?” Rafa said.

Rafa understands Australians having a problem with the situation

Rafael Nadal talks about how Novak Djokovic being here on a medical exemption for the Australian Open is understandably a problem for the locals. After all, they “get very frustrated- because they have been going through a lot of very hard lockdowns,” Rafa said.

He then reaffirmed his own belief in medical practitioners, saying “I believe in what the people who knows about medicine says.” According to Rafa, if people are told to get vaccinated, then they absolutely should.

Do you agree with the Spanish legend when he says Novak Djokovic should have gotten vaccinated if he wanted to play?

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