Novak Djkokovic is “mentally touched” after being expelled from Australia for not being vaccinated against the coronavirus, says the coach of the world tennis number one, Marian Vajda, in an interview published this Friday by the Slovak sports daily “Sport”.
The Slovak coach said that “It is clear that this has hit him mentally, that it will hurt him for a long time and it is clear that it will be difficult to get (what happened) out of his head.”
“However, I know my pupil very well. Novak is strong, persevering and has not yet said his last word in tennis”, assured the Slovak coach.
On the other hand, Vajda criticized that it was announced that to play in the following Grand Slams, first Roland Garros (France) and then Wimbledon (United Kingdom), You will need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“I do not understand why it is important to announce this about tournaments that will be played in May, when the world does not know what will happen with the pandemic. next month,” said the coach.
“I don’t want to underestimate the situation, it is very serious, but what is the purpose of discussing this now, in January? Is this still a sport?” asked Djokovic’s coach, who was not with his disciple in Melbourne.
Vajda, who has trained the Serbian tennis player since 2006, takes turns with Croatian Goran Ivanisevic when accompanying Djokovic to the world circuit tournaments.
“Even in my house, in Bratislava, I couldn’t sleep, because I couldn’t believe that something like this was possible,” The coach recalled his feelings during the dispute with the Australian immigration authorities, whom he harshly criticized.
“It was a political process. This will definitely have significant consequences. It will be difficult to come back from that. It was also an invasion of his privacy, of his family,” Vajda said.
