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Rafael Nadal French Open 2021

“It seems a bit selfish to me” – Nadal judges the unvaccinated


Spanish Former World number one Rafael Nadal has said he “understands” but thinks those who refuse the Covid-19 vaccines “seem a bit selfish.”

The 20-time Grand Slam champion has aired his thoughts on those who refuse to receive one of the various Covid-19 vaccines.

Most notably amongst this group of players is fellow 20-time Grand Slam winner and current World number one Novak Djokovic, who has not yet declared his vaccination status ahead of the 2022 Australian Open.

Djokovic also received a considerable backlash in response to a tennis tournament he hosted last year with lax social distancing restrictions.

In a video conference interview with Spanish sports outlet Marca, Nadal referred to the #NuestraMejorVictoria (Our Best Victory) campaign that he launched with compatriot and highly-decorated former basketball player Pau Gasol.

A plethora of Spanish sporting stars have contributed to the initiative, including fellow tennis player Garbine Muguruza, Formula One driver Carlos Sainz, football players Iker Casillas, Sergio Busquets and Dani Carvajal and football manager Julien Lopetegui, as well as many others.

Nadal said “we are all tired of this situation (the Covid-19 pandemic), they are complicated years, many people have lost close people. We had to take a step forward, to try to help, put a grain of sand (contribute to a worthy cause) and give help to people.

“I understand that there are people who do not want to be vaccinated, but it seems a bit selfish to me.

“We have suffered a lot. We do not know one hundred percent the effects of vaccines, but we do have to trust the doctors, what we do know is 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,” Nadal claims.

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.