Nadal being wrong here. Djokovic's message was actually leaked to the media and not shared. Surprising he doesn't mention that at all and instead bad mouths his colleague. Shame on him but then again, this is how he needs to win the stefan edberg award
Nik should button it. He's spoken out a number of times , mainly against Djokovic - Rightly or wrongly. What does he hope to achieve by keeping doing this? It's about time to let the racquet do the talking Nick.
rafaelnadalfans.com
It will be an interesting AO 2021 for sure,especially if Nick draws Novak or anyone in the ill fated Arida Tour ....
Since the start of the pandemic,Rafa has been a voice of reason,thankful for opportunities,he gets,understands that tennis is of little importance compared to human life.Rafa's comments:
Rafa Roundup: “Some need to make public all they do to try to help others, while some of us do it privately”
ARTICLES: ‘That’s what makes Rafael Nadal special’ – Gilles Simon explains source of Spaniard’s success | tennishead.net Talking to Tennis Majors, Simon explained: “Rafa starts from what works when…
The SHADE:
How do you know Djoko´s message was actually leaked to the media and not shared? because Novak said it? . Remember that only the players know exactly what is happening over there, much better than you and me. If Nadal said that if because he knows more about it besides everybody knows how much effort Novak is doing to look ¨The Robin Hood¨ but it doesn't´t work too good
Before I read anything else on here, I have to respond to this. I watched the entire interview in Spanish, which wasn't easy, because the link was rather poor, but Nadal made the most vaguely passing comment about "people maybe not commenting" and you really have to hear the whole context. He didn't diss Djokovic, at all, certainly not by name, and he talked at length about how complicated the situation was, how there were inequities, how he held all fellow players in solidarity. He also talked about the pandemic in general, and how lucky tennis players were to be able to do what they do, as he has always done, during this crisis. He talked about the wider world, in terms of the pandemic, and people losing loved ones. I'm not going to translate the whole thing for you, but the English language report that @MargaretMcAleer posted here extracted one thing that they found controversial, and it couldn't have been farther from the meat and potatoes of that interview. Nadal didn't try to stir up anything with Djokovic, or anyone. He answered questions, with a great deal of thought and gravitas, given the situation.
Thank you for offering at a more nuanced translation of what I heard in the longer interview. Maybe he did throw some shade, but Djokovic really does need to know when to hold his water. I appreciate if he's really trying to speak for the inequities in tennis, and for the lesser players, but he did agree to be in Adelaide. He DID opt for the cushier situation. And he crabs about the protocols because he's a bit of a pandemic denier. It's clear he wants to be a leader, but he doesn't always calculate it right.Rafa's comments:
Rafa Roundup: “Some need to make public all they do to try to help others, while some of us do it privately”
ARTICLES: ‘That’s what makes Rafael Nadal special’ – Gilles Simon explains source of Spaniard’s success | tennishead.net Talking to Tennis Majors, Simon explained: “Rafa starts from what works when…
The SHADE:
To the extent that the world seems to be divided between those that understand the gravity of this pandemic, and those that are rather blowing it off, Rafa and Novak seem to embody it. Novak has been campaigning against strict protocols since the beginning. Rafa has always been on the side of caution and public health. For that matter, so has Nick Kyrgios. I know you don't believe that the Adria Tour was designed to shove protocols up the nose of the US Open, but I still think it was, and it backfired. But it hasn't made certain people repentant. And I think Djokovic keeps doubling down.
Novak organized the tour on the health reports at the time of the pandemic in the countries the tour was to visit.I will give the benefit of the doubt to Novak that he really had good intentions...........though in saying that seeing photos of the 'nightclub and no social distancing at all' then members of the tour getting the virus.....Novak and his wife included I would have thought he would understand that here in Australia have had very strict COVID-19 restrictions,all players regardless of their ranking would have to adhere to the restrictions that are in place,due to quarantine of all people,regardless tennis players,have to go into 14 days,it was unfortunate that the charter flights,there were a few people,not tennis players,had a positive result,which by our strict quarantine restrictions had to go into a 14 day strict lock down.Tennis Australia have now back dated the start of the WTA and ATP tournaments to give these players a bit more time to be ready for the AO.also put in exercise equipment in their rooms.Some of the requests made by Novak to Tennis Australia were just not allowable in our present COVID-19 restrictions,which by the way are controlled not by Tennis Australia,by the Victorian Government,which the Premier had already said no.I have previously stated if you do not like our restrictions do not come,as here in Australia we have worked hard to keep our COVID-19 numbers low.
We've discussed this before, and I won't bore you with my opinion again. You are more generous than I am, and you give more benefit of the doubt as to intentions. The Adria Tour was for charity, which is a noble intent, but they also snubbed their (unmasked) noses at every norm that was being demonstrated in exhibition tennis, such as there was during quarantine. But in any case I agree with you completely that tennis players agree to come and play in Australia under the restrictions that are set up by the government. As it is, it's a privilege to get to play at all, in these times. It's a shame that there's so much squabbling in the press, over what Novak says, and amongst players for what Rafa and Thiem haven't said, as an example. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. But they're there, they're working, and they're making money. They should shut up and play tennis, for now.
First I want to clarify that I am not going to debate the COVID protocols since I trust the Australian government more than the players. They have 0 covid cases and know much better about controlling the virus than we or any of the players
For all we know, when Nadal mentioned that some people did too much talking to the press, he could have meant Guido Pella, who directly attacked Nadal and Thiem for "doing nothing."
I thought that's been his goal for a few years already. Novak had it for a lot of years before it happened, too.
