"I don't like it, it's bad for tennis" - Rick Macci on Novak Djokovic missing 2022 US Open
The uncertainty surrounding Novak Djokovic's participation at the US Open, which ended with the Serb announcing his decision to stay away from New York this year, has been a hot topic in the tennis world for quite some time now.
The former World No. 1s refusal to get vaccinated for COVID-19 has not only seen him draw public flak but also miss tournaments, starting with the Australian Open, where he was deported from the country hours before the tournament began.
Djokovic's continued absence from some of tennis' biggest events, according to American tennis coach and former player Rick Macci, is bad for tennis. Speaking to TJ Sports USA in a recent interview, Macci said that the fact that the Serb played in New York in the two editions — when the impact of COVID-19 was much more severe — and not this year, made no sense.
"I don't like it, it's bad for tennis. I'm not losing sleep over it but he played last year, COVID-19 was worse. He played the year before, COVID-19 was a lot worse. Now it's in the rear-view mirror but he's not vaccinated, they don't let people in the country, it's a joke. It makes no sense whatsoever," Macci said.
Macci went on to say that, in his opinion, tennis had nothing to do with the decision before dubbing the government's decision on the vaccine-related topic "unfortunate."
"I don't think tennis has anything to do with it. It's the government, you've got to be vaccinated to come in, it's unfortunate. It applies to, in my opinion, not only the best player in the world but many other people that aren't vaccinated. That maybe it affected your business, visiting relatives or whatever it impacted," he continued.
"Novak Djokovic will go down as the greatest player ever if he's allowed to play tournaments" - Rick Macci
Showering further praise on Novak Djokovic, Rick Macci said he would go down as the greatest player ever if he's allowed to play tournaments.
The American went on to say that while the authorities could have made an exception for Djokovic, he could the other side's perspective as well.
"It's just front and centre because Djoker [Djokovic], who I feel will go down as the greatest player ever to hold a racket, if he's allowed to play tournaments," Maci said.
"It looks like if you don't get vaccinated, who knows where this is going to go. I'm not in favor of it and I think they should have made a special exception, but if they do it for him, they've got to do it for everybody," he continued.
Also Checkout:- US Open 2022 Schedule