Nadal: “If they force us, Djokovic will have to be vaccinated if he wants to continue playing tennis”

Rafa Nadal reviewed the current situation due to the coronavirus pandemic in an interview with La Voz de Galicia and how it has affected his daily life and the world of tennis.

One of the questions that Nadal was asked was the possibility that the players would have to be vaccinated, something to which Novak Djokovic expressed his opposition. “I cannot demand of anybody. Everyone is free, but if you belong to a circuit, maybe one has to be governed by the rules that the circuit demands. If he forces vaccination to protect everyone, then Djokovic will have to be vaccinated if he wants to continue playing tennis at the highest level, or me. Each one will have to comply. If the ATP or the ITF forces us to get a vaccine to play tennis then we will have to get it. “

The Balearic stated that he has been able to train on a tennis court at a friend's house since he still cannot do it at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor. “I have trained in a private house, because I am not sure if I can go to the academy. So I preferred to avoid confusion and went to train in a friend's private country house, who has a clue and has left it for me. “

Nadal also revealed that he learned the severity of the pandemic after a conversation with Bill Gates during the Match In Africa exhibition match that he played with Roger Federer in Cape Town (South Africa). “What we discussed with Bill Gates was a private conversation that my uncle later published unfortunately. He knows how the world works and I took it very seriously. At one point he told us: 'I don't know if in three months we will be traveling or not.' It was the only thing he told me. I thought he was exaggerating but the reality is that unfortunately he wasn't. “

Nadal was sincere and said that the sport for him has taken a back seat during this confinement. “800 or 900 people were dying every day in Spain. There comes a time when Roland Garros, Wimbledon or the US Open are not in my head. There were other concerns. When the sport can, it will return. There are other priorities. This has robbed us all of a year of our sports career. Others have had their injuries taken away. For someone with 33 or 34 years or 38 like Roger it is not the same as for someone with 21. If this had happened to me at 21 years old I would have thought 'what a disaster', but you have the whole career ahead of you. At an advanced age they take away options to win important titles for the history of each one. And it also takes away the happiness of continuing to do what you like, but it has been for everyone, not just for tennis players. “

The Balearic also expressed his doubts about the return of tennis and played down the fight he has with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to become the tennis player with the most Grand Slam in history. “I don't think you'll see me in Paris, but hopefully that's how it is. I don't think we're going to play this year. I hope I'm wrong. I'm not thinking much about the title fight with Federer and Djokovic. I hope I would like to finish my career like the tennis player with the most Grand Slam! But it doesn't obsess me nor is it a great goal for me. I'm doing my career and I'm not worried if the one who lives next to me has a bigger house than mine, has a better car or charges a little more per month. “