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Former World No.1 Rafael Nadal has made no attempt to defend Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic after he was deported for failed vaccine status. The current World No.1 arrived in Australia on Wednesday (January 5) but was stopped by the border officials as he failed to produce Covid-19 vaccine entry requirements. To add to further embarrassment, his visa was canceled by the authorities. Nadal though has blamed the Serb for not fulfilling the necessary requirements.
"A lot of people had been dying", the 20-time major champions said after he was contracted with Covid-19 last month.
"I went through the Covid, I have been vaccinated twice. If you do this, you don't have any problem to play here. That's the only clear thing.
"The only clear thing for me is if you are vaccinated, you can play in the Australian Open and everywhere, and the world in my opinion have been suffering enough to not follow the rules,” the 35-year-old added.
"He made his own decisions, and everybody is free to take their own decisions, but then there are some consequences," Nadal quoted after his first ATP Tour win since August.
"I mean, it's normal that the people here in Australia get very frustrated with the (Djokovic) case because they have been going through a lot of very hard lockdowns, and a lot of people were not able to come back home,” Nadal added while he spoke on Djokovic’s exemption case.
Both Djokovic and Nadal are likely to lock horns at the Australian Open 2022 if the Serb is granted permission to stay in the country. The nine-time Australian Open winner was granted an exemption by the Australian authorities to participate in the tournament but now faces an anxious wait to be part of the first grand slam of the year. Both, Djokovic and Nadal are chasing a men's record 21st Grand Slam title as the Australian Open begins on January 17.
