The title that Rafael Nadal got epic on sunday at the Australian Open has triggered a lot of things. The first, and most important, has elevated the Spanish tennis player to highest in world tennis history with his 21 Grand Slams, a mark that no man had ever reached.
It has also brought with it the joy and pride of an entire country. And this Wednesday the last consequence of the ‘Hurricane Nadal’ was known: Novak Djokovic would have finally decided to get vaccinated.
After the days of madness that the Serbian tennis player starred in Melbourne for his refusal to get the covid-19 vaccine, it seems that the fact that that Nadal has surpassed him in number of Grand Slam has changed the opinion from Serbian. The triumph of Manacor has been a more powerful reason to get vaccinated for number one in the ATP ranking than the public health crisis that the planet has been experiencing for two years.
At least that is what Daniel Müksch, his biographer, has assured in an interview for an Austrian media. “From what I’ve heard from your surroundings, I think he is vaccinated. Perhaps the final in Australia contributed. It may be that Rafa Nadal’s 21 Grand Slams are driving him to do it,” he says.
The reality is that if the Serbian is not vaccinated, as is the current regulation in France, the United Kingdom and the United States, it is not clear that the tennis player can play any of the ‘greats’ of this season. Australia opened the ban when it withdrew the visa that allowed him to enter the country without being vaccinated. Djokovic had alleged that he had recently overcome the coronavirus, one of the exceptions that the country includes in its special entry conditions as a result of the pandemic.
At the moment, the US Open would be practically ruled out until the Serbian has been inoculated with the complete vaccination schedule, since the US prohibits all those who do not have a health passport from entering the country. A similar scenario would live in the days before Wimbledon. After the controversy in Australia, the French authorities came forward and clarified that Djokovic can’t dispute either Roland Garros unvaccinated.