Novak Djokovic told to voluntarily give up on playing Australian Open – ‘Just go home’
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Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has told Novak Djokovic to voluntarily leave Australia. In arguably the most eventful buildup to the tournament in its history, Djokovic announced he will be heading Down Under to compete in sport’s first grand slam of the year.
The Serbian has refused to disclose his vaccination status and in order to play at Melbourne Park, you must be double jabbed.
The 34-year-old revealed he was granted a medical exemption to participate in the event, and received a huge backlash from both members of the Australian public and worldwide.
Shocking news emerged that he had been detained at Melbourne Airport and his visa was cancelled after the Australian Border Force stated he had provided sufficient evidence to warrant an exemption.
He was then transported to a quarantine hotel where he remained for several days while his team appealed the result, which was successful.
The world number one is now training to defend his Australian Open title, but his right to stay in the country hangs in the balance with Immigration Minister Alex Hawke still able to deport him. He is set to make a decision either today or tomorrow.
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Navratilova meanwhile, thinks the tennis star should leave Australia of his own free will.
“The best thing for Novak to do I think would be just say ‘you know what, there are too many mistakes, this is not OK and the right thing to do is just to go home,” Navratilova told Sunrise on Thursday.
“It’s just the right thing to do, but I don’t think he will do that because he wants that 21st title.”
Djokovic has long been against the coronavirus vaccine and Navratilova said he needs to set aside his views for the sake of tennis and society as a whole.
“Your personal beliefs have to be trumped by what is good for the greater good for those around you a your peers,” she said.
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“If I were in the same situation and I didn’t want the vaccine, worried what it may do to my body, everyone else is doing it because it is the right thing to do and the country demands it.
“He had a choice not to get vaccinated and he had a choice not to play and he had a choice once he tested positive not to go out.”
Other players have expressed their views on the Djokovic saga, such as world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Greek gave a very honest assessment of the situation and says his rival can only blame himself if he is told to leave Australia.
“For sure he’s been playing by his own rules and has been doing something that not many players have the guts to go and do, especially after the ATP announced certain criteria for players to enter the country,” Tsitsipas told WION.
“No one would have really thought: ‘I can come to Australia unvaccinated and not have to follow the protocols they gave me’.
“It takes a lot of daring to do I think, putting a Grand Slam at risk, I don’t think a lot of players would do that.
“I chose to go and be 100 per cent ready for whatever was to come, not having to think about anything else. For Novak it worked another way.
“That doesn’t really mean that my way is the right one and his way is the wrong one. It’s just each person’s decision about it.”
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