Rafa: "not having one of the best players of the history in the draw of Grand Slam is always an important miss, no?”

[pj80]

A day after this news broke, Rafael Nadal was asked what his thoughts were on Djokovic’s situation.

“From my personal perspective, it’s very sad news,” Nadal said. “It’s always a shame when the best players of the world are not able to play a tournament because of injuries or because of different reasons. In this case, not having one of the best players of the history in the draw of Grand Slam is always an important miss, no?”

“As I said, tough for the fans, tough for the tournament,” Nadal added. “In my opinion, tough for the players, too, because we want to have the best field possible. But, in the other hand, I repeat what I said plenty of times: the sport in some ways is bigger than any player. I missed a lot of important events in my tennis career because of injuries, without a doubt. Last year I was not here. Two years ago I was not here. The tournament continues. The world of tennis keep going.”


“Without a doubt, Novak is one of the most important players of the last 20 years, the history of our sport,” Nadal said. “In a personal way I feel sorry for him that he’s not able to travel here.”

The two tennis players will compete together next month on Team Europe for the Laver Cup. It’s unknown whether Djokovic will play in any tournaments ahead of the Laver Cup.

Rafael Nadal Comments on Novak Djokovic’s U.S. Open Absence (msn.com)

 

[Bartelby]

I wonder how many of his fans will follow this reasoned and reasonable position of Nadal?

 

[intrepidish]

I wonder how many of his fans will follow this reasoned and reasonable position of Nadal?

Virtually everyone thinks it's a shame that Novak took himself out of the running. Rafa and his fans are no exception.

 

[Deleted member 793944]

Novak now has two weeks mediating between wife who will root against Nadal and Stefan who will read that and love Rafa even more. (His wife may well appreciate the comments but somehow her cheering for Rafa would be a bit awkward at dinner time perhaps)

 

[mahatma]

Equating travel ban of a perfectly fit player to Injured player who can't even compete due to his own injury is BS.

 

[Rosstour]

"Most important players of the last 20 years"

Lolol subtle shade as always

 

[Deleted member 793944]

Virtually everyone thinks it's a shame that Novak took himself out of the running. Rafa and his fans are no exception.

Its a huge loss to tennis obviously.

 

[Bartelby]

Rafa's fans do not engage in the reasoned and reasonable arguments of Nadal. They would prefer more florid rhetoric and easy victories for Nadal.

 

[mahatma]

Nadal obv is super happy to not have Djokovic here. Vulturing another HC slam is locked.

 

[Autodidactic player]

Equating travel ban of a perfectly fit player to Injured player who can't even compete due to his own injury is BS.

True. Novak chose not to play. A player injured so badly that they cannot play doesn't have a choice.

 

[clayqueen]

Nadal obv is super happy to not have Djokovic here. Vulturing another HC slam is locked.

I think Nadal wants Djokovic there to make it 3:1 against him at the USO and equal their h2h.

 

[Bartelby]

Nadal wants Novak there. His fans mostly do not. Easy victories are more enjoyable than tough losses!

 

[mahatma]

I think Nadal wants Djokovic there to make it 3:1 against him at the USO and equal their h2h.

Oh their HC H2H is quite brilliant. 21 sets and 9 years apart he won.
Point % won during this time in over 2000 points played between the 2 on hard court has 60:40 points won in favour of Djokovic. Sad stat tbh.

Nadal at his best in HC now can't even win a set against Novak. Lol.

 

[clayqueen]

Oh their HC H2H is quite brilliant. 21 sets and 9 years apart he won.
Point % won during this time in over 2000 points played between the 2 on hard court has 60:40 points won in favour of Djokovic. Sad stat tbh.

Nadal at his best in HC now can't even win a set against Novak. Lol.

Novak is the one who chickened out. Rafa is there waiting like he was waiting at the AO.

 

[Bartelby]

Novak hardly chickened out, and that is not Nadal's reasoned and reasonable position.

 

[mahatma]

Novak is the one who chickened out. Rafa is there waiting like he was waiting at the AO.

Haha, like Rafa chickened in Wimbledon when Novak was in the draw 2 rounds away. Masterful chickening.

 

[clayqueen]

Haha, like Rafa chickened in Wimbledon when Novak was in the draw 2 rounds away. Masterful chickening.

Rafa was injured but Djokovic has no excuse. He is as fit as a fiddle but decided to sit it out not wanting to face Rafa.

 

[mahatma]

Rafa was injured but Djokovic has no excuse. He is as fit as a fiddle but decided to sit it out not wanting to face Rafa.

Lol, in an actual scenario where chickening happened you quickly moved to injury. Seems you too are chickening out of your analogy now.

 

[Rattie]

Equating travel ban of a perfectly fit player to Injured player who can't even compete due to his own injury is BS.

Rafa missed USO 2020 because of Covid. His choice. Novak misses this USO because of Covid rules. His choice.

 

[clayqueen]

Lol, in an actual scenario where chickening happened you quickly moved to injury. Seems you too are chickening out of your analogy now.

You are making an analogy that doesn't exist.

 

[mahatma]

Rafa missed USO 2020 because of Covid. His choice. Novak misses this USO because of Covid rules. His choice.

Lol, he missed - so that he can play FO in the best possible physical state. Also he knew, he had no chance in USO. It was a choice between trying for USO vs trying for FO. Ofcourse he took FO as his best possible chance - good for him.

 

[Federev]

"Most important players of the last 20 years"

Lolol subtle shade as always

He immediately added: "the history of our sport"

 

[clayqueen]

Rafa missed USO 2020 because of Covid. His choice. Novak misses this USO because of Covid rules. His choice.

Now we know Rafa had problems with his foot.

 

[Adv. Edberg]

Equating travel ban of a perfectly fit player to Injured player who can't even compete due to his own injury is BS.

Djokos injury is in his head.

foot, hip, knee, head, all the same injuries

edit:
He’s not banned from travelling lol

 

[Federev]

Novak is the one who chickened out. Rafa is there waiting like he was waiting at the AO.

You don't have to like Novak to say stuff like that.

He didn't chicken out. All the big 3 are fierce competitors and they've won - and lost - too many epics to be accused of that.

 

[clayqueen]

Lol, he missed - so that he can play FO in the best possible physical state. Also he knew, he had no chance in USO. It was a choice between trying for USO vs trying for FO. Ofcourse he took FO as his best possible chance - good for him.

Even without Rafa Djokovic was going down to PCB at the USO 2020 before he cancelled himself.

 

[mahatma]

Even without Rafa Djokovic was going down to PCB at the USO 2020 before he cancelled himself.

Seriously. Set 1 and Djokovic in slams is a different equation. He gifts them so that he can take souls. Lol.

 

[clayqueen]

Seriously. Set 1 and Djokovic in slams is a different equation. He gifts them so that he can take souls. Lol.

Whatever gives you comfort.

 

[maratha_warrior]

I wonder how many of his fans will follow this reasoned and reasonable position of Nadal?

Only one that I know of .
She is @Azure

 

[Tennfan123]

Rafa triggering his haters of course.
I enjoyed Rafa’s perspective here. Very grounded and reasonable as one would expect.

 

[jondice]

Rafa's fans do not engage in the reasoned and reasonable arguments of Nadal. They would prefer more florid rhetoric and easy victories for Nadal.

I'm a Rafa fan. And I agree with Rafa's sentiments in this instance.

I would agree with those same sentiments if Fed, Novak or Pete Sampras uttered them. For the record, I'd also disagree with Rafa if he said something that I didn't agree with about the Novak situation.

I love the tennis Rafa delivers. But his beliefs outside the lines of the tennis court have no agency with me simply because he's Rafa. I agree when I agree. I disagree with I disagree.

Fans of a given player are not a monolith.

 

[Mustard]

Also he knew, he had no chance in USO.

That's why Rafa has 4 US Open titles, no?

 

[Azure]

Only one that I know of .
She is @Azure

Thanks and for sure I would have loved to have seen Novak at the USO. Shout out to @Rafa.the.Magnificent too. Another rafan who wants to see Novak at the open

 

[Azure]

I'm a Rafa fan. And I agree with Rafa's sentiments in this instance.

I would agree with those same sentiments if Fed, Novak or Pete Sampras uttered them. For the record, I'd also disagree with Rafa if he said something that I didn't agree with about the Novak situation.

I love the tennis Rafa delivers. But his beliefs outside the lines of the tennis court have no agency with me simply because he's Rafa. I agree when I agree. I disagree with I disagree.

Fans of a given player are not a monolith.

Great post!

 

[Mark Anderson]

Equating travel ban of a perfectly fit player to Injured player who can't even compete due to his own injury is BS.

Of course, Djokovic needed four more tournaments to play in to get his number to 21. He's 8 vs 11 with Nadal at grand slams.

 

[Rosstour]

You don't have to like Novak to say stuff like that.

He didn't chicken out. All the big 3 are fierce competitors and they've won - and lost - too many epics to be accused of that.

Correction--Federer has never won an epic match.

 

[The Blond Blur]

Rafa's fans do not engage in the reasoned and reasonable arguments of Nadal. They would prefer more florid rhetoric and easy victories for Nadal.

RAFAN here, I’m totally cool with Joker playing the 2-1 Open, bud. In fact most of us here are, but we don’t make the immigrantion/border policies for the US of A.

But way to go out of your way to generalize and entire group of people based on a loud minority

 

[Slicehand]

Nadal obv is super happy to not have Djokovic here. Vulturing another HC slam is locked.

no locked at all believe me, tennis doesnt work that way

 

[MichaelNadal]

Correction--Federer has never won an epic match.

He has, just not near as many as Djokodal

 

[Slicehand]

He has, just not near as many as Djokodal

he has, but probably before they started watching tennis, which probably isnt a long time

 

[beast of mallorca]

Nadal wants Novak there. His fans mostly do not. Easy victories are more enjoyable than tough losses!

It was Novak's choice not to receive that stupid vaccine. He created his own drama. It was a fuqin jab that billions have gotten. Now you're blaming the fans for their stance. Cry me a river, Papi

 

[Federev]

Correction--Federer has never won an epic match.

Are you being serious?

 

[Rosstour]

Are you being serious?

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. And Federer is a weak era champion

 

[octobrina10]

I wonder how many of his fans will follow this reasoned and reasonable position of Nadal?

Hmm. Rafa said the same in Australia, but Djokofans have kept trash talking him.

By the way, 2 important first sentences of Rafa's reply are missing from OP. Rafa says that rules have been known for a long time.
Here is an excerpt from the official transcript:

 

[Bartelby]

The rules are changing so Nadal's less than gracious remark, which was best left out, will come back to haunt him.

Djokovic should have clear sailing next year as rules change.

By the way, the first sentence (very important!) of Rafa's reply is missing from OP. Here is an excerpt from the official transcript:

 

[Humphrey20133]

What is ungracious about his remarks? Not sure I understand how what he said is so terrible. Seems level-headed and reasonable to me.

 

[octobrina10]

The rules are changing so Nadal's less than gracious remark, which was best left out, will come back to haunt him.

Djokovic should have clear sailing next year as rules change.

Of course, rules and laws are changing all the time. But you can't break the existing rules&laws.

 

[octobrina10]

@Bartelby

I wrote that Rafa said the same in Australia. Here is one article about what he said:

tennismajors.com: ¤¤ NADAL: “EVERYONE MAKES THEIR OWN CHOICE, BUT THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES”

Nadal told reporters that Djokovic’s decision not to be vaccinated against Covid-19 – while a personal decision – had led to this situation.

“I think if he (had) wanted, he would be playing here in Australia without a problem,” Nadal said. “He went through another…he made his own decisions, and everybody is free to take their own decisions, but then there are some consequences.

“Of course I don’t like the situation that is happening. In some way I feel sorry for him. But at the same time, he knew the conditions since a lot of months ago, so he makes his own decision.

“I went through the COVID. I have been vaccinated twice. If you do this, you don’t have any problem to play here. That’s the only clear thing. The only for me clear thing is if you are vaccinated, you can play in the Australian Open and everywhere, and the world in my opinion have been suffering enough to not follow the rules.” ¤¤

Nadal on Djokovic: He knew the consequences

Former world No 1 Rafael Nadal said Novak Djokovic, who is set to miss the Australian Open after having his visa denied, could have avoided problems by being vaccinated against Covid-19

www.tennismajors.com

 

[BeatlesFan]

Rafa missed USO 2020 because of Covid. His choice. Novak misses this USO because of Covid rules. His choice.

You hit the nail on the head. Thread will pointlessly continue, but there's nothing more to be said after this.

 

[Deleted member 791948]

Nadal is the most well-spoken player on the tour. Never has there been a more concise speaker