By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday January 12, 2022
Martina Navratilova has some advice for Novak Djokovic: get vaccinated or go home. To the 18-time major champion it is as simple as that.
Navratilova, who gave an interview to Sunrise on 7 on Thursday in Melbourne, says that sometimes the common good is better than the personal good.
“It’s just such a combination of mistakes on everybody’s part,” she said of Djokovic’s ongoing imbroglio with the Australian federal government over his right to maintain his visa and play in the 2022 Australian Open. “It doesn’t pass the smell test. The bottom line is sometimes your personal beliefs have to be trumped by what’s good for the greater good - for those around you, for your peers.”
Navratilova told reporters that if she were in Djokovic’s situation, she would just not play the event.
“If I were in the same situation and I didn’t want to take the vaccine because I may be worried about what it may do to my body - but everyone else is doing it because it’s the right thing to do and because the country demands it, quite frankly - you have two choices: get vaccinated or don’t go play.”
Navratilova, who has been a supporter of Djokovic on many occasions in the past, says she admires the World No.1’s commitment to his tennis, but questioned his leadership.
“I’ve admired his commitment to becoming the best tennis player he could possibly be, and I know what it takes to do that, at the same time, again, when you want to be a leader in a sport there’s a responsibility that comes with that,” she said. “You are a role model for kids whether you want to be or not.