Novak Djokovic's public and tennis life changed with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic that affected the entire planet. Faced with his decision not to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the Serbian was affected by his normal development of the ATP circuit season. A reflection was what happened at the beginning of the year, when he ended up being deported from Australia without being able to defend his title at the first Grand Slam of the year.
Although the epidemiological situation improved over the days, tournament organizers continued to maintain restrictions for each tournament, especially the need for players to be vaccinated to participate in the event. That made Djokovic miss, for example, from participating in the Masters 1000 of Indian Wells and Miami in the United States.
Faced with this scenario, and after losing in the debut in Monte Carlo to the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich, who gave details of the present of the former number 1 in the world was their coach, Goran Ivanisevic. “Djokovic was not feeling well, he had some fever and was not 100% ready to compete. Three weeks ago I couldn't compete here for restrictions, and that made it very difficult to prepare mentally. We didn't expect to do anything spectacular in this tournament, our goal is Roland Garros,” said the former player in dialogue with the portal UbiTennis.
But beyond his analysis, who knew how to be Wimbledon champion in 2001, he showed all his admiration for Nole and his choice not to inoculate himself in the midst of a pandemic. “Change your idea about the vaccine? It's his life and he makes his decisions, and I respect them. I admire him even more because he has maintained his convictions at the cost of ruining his career. He is the only one in the world that has maintained his position since the beginning and I respect him even more than before,” he clarified.
It should be remembered that so far in 2022, Djokovic was only able to play two tournaments. After the scandal at the Australian Open, the Serbian spent more than two months without playing after falling in the quarterfinals in Doha and reappeared at the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo with a defeat: he fell in his first match of a tournament after four years.
“He is one of the best players in the history of tennis and these players always find a way to win and overcome their problems. He will find a way out thanks to his perseverance. Last year also started badly when he ended up losing here to Evans, but then he started playing well in Rome and ended up winning in Belgrade and Roland Garros, so, I'm not worried,” Ivanisevic confessed about the current picture of his pupil.
Looking at the rest of the men's tennis calendar, the former tennis player confirmed that it is not diagrammed due to restrictions for those who are not vaccinated. “We still have to talk about what the schedule will be, but the plan is to play all the tournaments in which he can participate, depending on how things are going on day by day,” concluded the 50-year-old Croatian.
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