Rafael Nadal calls those refusing the COVID vaccine 'selfish'
Tennis Australia has yet to make determination on vaccine mandates
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The Australian Open may require tennis players to be vaccinated against the coronavirus in 2022, and that appears to be quite all right with superstar Rafael Nadal.
Nadal, who cut his 2021 season short due to a foot injury, told Spain’s Marca last week he thought it was a bit "selfish" for players to be unvaccinated against the illness.
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Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts after winning the final Godo tennis tournament against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, April 25, 2021. Nadal won by 6-4, 6-7, 7-5. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
"I understand that there are people who do not want to be vaccinated, but it seems a bit selfish to me," Nadal said. "We have suffered a lot.
"We do not know 100 percent the effects of vaccines, but we do have to trust the doctors… we do know the effect of the virus if we are not vaccinated. It seems that today we [Spain] are the country that is least affected by the virus and I think it is because we have a large part of the population vaccinated."
Tennis Australia, the country’s governing body for the sport, has yet to announce rules for the Jan. 17 event. Novak Djokovic, one of the top tennis players in the world, has refused to be vaccinated and was unsure whether he would play in the Australian Open – a tournament he’s won nine total times and three consecutively.
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MEDVEDEV BEATS HURKACZ IN OPENING MATCH OF ATP FINALS
Rafael Nadal of Spain serves to Daniil Medvedev, of Russia during the men's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York in this Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019, file photo. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)
"I’m going to decide on whether I go to Australia or not after I see the official statement from Tennis Australia," Djokovic said after winning the Paris Masters, via The Wall Street Journal. "Right now we don’t have any official announcement or statement. So until that’s out, I won’t be talking about this anymore."
Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts after defeating Alexander Zverev of Germany during the semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Players were forced into a 14-day quarantine last season. Australia is preparing to reopen its international borders next month for the first time since early 2020, but it will be a gradual process.
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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia needs to have some kind of flexibility to stage major events.
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"We’re going to have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world ... one of the lowest fatality rates from COVID in the world and the strongest economy coming through COVID," Morrison said last month. "We want major events in this country. We want Australia to show to the world that we’re open, we’re getting on with it."
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.