"A small percentage chose to follow their own way which makes the majority look like they're fools" - Stefanos Tsitsipas on Novak Djokovic staying unvaccinated
Stefanos Tsitsipas recently weighed in on Novak Djokovic's vaccine status, which has caused plenty of controversy in the lead up to the Australian Open. Speaking to WION, the Greek claimed the small percentage of players who have refused to get jabbed make the majority of players who are vaccinated seem like "fools or something."
While Novak Djokovic has remained tight-lipped about his vaccination status throughout the pandemic, legal documents submitted by him in a Melbourne court confirmed that he is unvaccinated.
The ATP recently confirmed that 97 of the top 100 male players have been vaccinated against COVID-19. In addition to the World No. 1, Tennys Sandgren is also unvaccinated, while the identity of the third player is yet to be confirmed.
When asked what the tennis community makes of Djokovic's unvaccinated status, Stefanos Tsitsipas pointed out two ways to analyze the situation. Firstly, the World No. 4 highlighted how most of the players on tour have followed the rules and have been "very disciplined" in order to play in Australia.
"Well there are two ways to look at it, I'll tell you," Stefanos Tsitsipas said. "One way is every single player almost - the stats say that 98% of the players have been vaccinated. And that's what they had to do in order to perform and play in Australia. So one side of it is yeah we've all kind of followed the protocol to compete in Australia, we've been very disciplined in that part."
Looking at the situation from another perspective, Tsitsipas asserted that those who have not taken the jabs are not "playing by the rules" set by Tennis Australia and the governments involved. The Greek reckons such players are making vaccinated individuals look like "fools."
"The other sense I'd say that yeah it kind of seems like not everyone is playing by the rules of how Tennis Australia or some Governments have been putting things," Tsitsipas added. "And a very small majority of that percentage chose to follow their own way which kind of makes the rest, sorry makes the majority look like I dunno, they're all fools or something."
#Exclusive | "Djokovic has been playing by his own rules and has risked missing out in the Australian open" says World No. 4 @steftsitsipas (Stefanos Tsitsipas) to WION's @DiggySinghDeo, as they talk about the controversy surrounding Novak Djokovic.
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"Novak Djokovic has been playing by his own rules and has been doing something that not many players had the guts to do" - Stefanos Tsitsipas
During the video interview, Stefanos Tsitsipas was asked if Novak Djokovic had "set the wrong example" by admitting to breaking COVID-19 rules.
The 20-time Major champion apparently tested positive for COVID-19 on 16 December, after which he attended an interview with a L'Equipe journalist. In doing so, he broke Serbia's COVID-19 isolation rules.
Djokovic also erred by submitting an erroneous travel declaration form before traveling to Australia. He was asked to mention each country he had visited in the 14 days prior to entering Australian soil.
The 34-year-old, who visited Spain for a couple of days in that period, failed to mention it. However, in a social media statement he released to explain his actions, Djokovic said his agent had made a mistake on the form.
While responding to the question, Tsitsipas asserted that the Serb "has been playing by his own rules" all this time. However, in the same breath, the Greek admitted it required immense courage for someone to do what Djokovic had done, especially since it put his Grand Slam participation at risk.
"Well, for sure he has been playing by his own rules and has been doing something that not many players had the guts to go and do especially after (it was) announced the certain criteria for players to enter the country. No one would have really thought 'you know, I can just come to Australia unvaccinated and not having to follow the protocols they gave me,' which is just - it takes a lot of daring to do I think," the Greek said.
"And putting a Grand Slam kind of at-risk which is again I don't think many players would do that. I chose to go and be 100% ready for whatever was to come and not having to think about anything else."
The 2021 Roland Garros runner-up clarified that he does not think that Djokovic's methods are particularly "wrong."
"For me it works that way. For Novak it worked another way," Tsitsipas added. "That doesn't really mean that my way is the right one and his way is the wrong one. It's just each person's perception about it."