Marcelo Rios, a former World No. 1 runner-up at the 2008 Australian Open, is the latest to criticize Djokovic for refusing to take the vaccine.
His single-minded Covid-19 position also got him labeled persona non grata at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters after he was deported from Melbourne and missed out on a possible 10th Australian Open.
Djokovic said prior to the Monte Carlo Masters that he hope he doesn’t have to play six matches in six months. Mentally and emotionally, the last three to four months have been quite challenging for him. He going to leave it all behind and go on.
He said that he doesn’t believe it will leave insurmountable traces; on the contrary, I believe it will leave insurmountable traces. He will try to use it as a source of energy.
During Djokovic’s absence from the circuit, long-time adversary Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open for the 21st time, breaking a tie with Djokovic and Roger Federer.
He also lost his world number one status to Daniil Medvedev for a brief period, but he is currently back on top of the heap, where he has stayed for 364 weeks.
His refusal to be vaccinated, on the other hand, has sparked outrage.
Marcelo Rios’ statement on Djokovic’s vaccine rejection
Marcelo Rios, a former World No. 1 runner-up at the 2008 Australian Open, is the latest to criticize Djokovic for refusing to take the vaccine.
It’s ridiculous; he’ll give up the race and will never be the best in history because of it. Marcelo Rios added
“At first, I thought the same thing, but I had to take it because I was traveling.”
Marcelo Rios is not sure why, but if he wants to be the greatest in history and he is going to give up the race for some vaccines, he has to be the king of foolishness.
Marcelo Rios believes that Djokovic did it out of fear at first, but now he’s arrogant. He thinks
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Djokovic’s acknowledgement on his current form
Djokovic acknowledges that he may have lost a step while sitting on the bench for the first four months of the season and that he will need some time to catch up.
He recognizes that he won’t be at his best at the start of this week, Djokovic continued.
He is still testing my engine and building my game, he says. It’ll take some time, some matches to really get in the rhythm and find the competitive play that he is looking for.
Despite his off-court troubles, Djokovic stated that he is still eager to add to his Grand Slam tally.
The French Open, where he is the defending champion, will be his next opportunity.
He is still driven to be on the tour and fight with young guys and try to challenge the greatest players in the world for the biggest titles, Djokovic, who won the Monte Carlo Open in 2013 and 2015, said.
Djokovic is delighted to be here because Monaco has been his home for the past ten years. He said that he has been looking forward to the day when he will be able to compete again, so that is the greatest spot for him to begin.
His first opponent will be Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who defeated American Marcos Giron 7-5, 6-3 on Sunday.
