Rafael Nadal had little sympathy for long-time rival Novak Djokovic, saying on Thursday that he must face the consequences for not being vaccinated against coronavirus.

The world number one was stopped by border officials on arrival to Australia late Wednesday and his visa was cancelled for failing to meet Covid vaccine-entry requirements.

He faces deportation but has launched a court challenge to stay in the country and play at this month’s Australian Open where both he and Nadal would be chasing a record 21st Grand Slam title.

Nadal contracted Covid last month and said he was a big believer in getting vaccinated to stem a pandemic in which “a lot of people had been dying”.

Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.