"We can't forget that he's someone very special for our sport, I think we need to show respect" - Alex Corretja on Novak Djokovic

Alex Corretja believes Novak Djokovic has been criticized too heavily for his COVID-19 vaccine status and feels the Serb's choice should be respected. The two-time Major finalist also declared it would be "shocking" and "devastating" for the sport if the World No. 1 is unable to play for the foreseeable future.

Djokovic spoke for the first time since his Australian Open deportation saga in an exclusive interview with the BBC on Tuesday. The 34-year-old revealed he would rather miss out on Grand Slam titles than compromise his principles and unwillingly take the COVID-19 vaccine to play.

The 20-time Major winner was forced to leave Australia ahead of last month's Australian Open following a two-week debacle over his visa and vaccination status. Djokovic's great rival, Rafael Nadal, won a record 21st men's Grand Slam title in Melbourne to overtake him and Roger Federer.

Speaking to Eurosport, Corretja pointed out how important Djokovic is to tennis, while claiming some have gone too far with their criticism of his decision to stay unvaccinated.

"He's been giving us so much in tennis," Corretja said. "You might not like his behavior sometimes on the court, you can be against that or in favor of his character or whatever. But we can't forget that he's someone very special for our sport.

"So just to go out there and criticize him so much, and just try to be hard on him just because he decided that he wants to have the right to choose not to get vaccinated - I think it was too much. And I think we need to show respect," he added.

The former World No. 2 reiterated his view that a person's choice over their vaccination status should be respected.

"If you want to get vaccinated, it's fine," Corretja continued. "If not, I think you need to respect even if some people might feel like they shouldn't be forced to do that. He's got his own personality and his own ideas. And definitely some people will say he's got the right to say that, while some others will say if he gets vaccinated, then that [he] would be a role model saying that. But in a way, I don't think he needs to think about other people, he needs to think about what he feels. And that's why I think that's the most important thing."

"It will be shocking if he's not going to be able to play in the next two years because of not getting the vaccination" - Alex Corretja on Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic is the defending French Open and Wimbledon champion

Alex Corretja also shared his thoughts on how Novak Djokovic not playing tournaments for a lengthy period could impact tennis. The Spaniard feels it would be greatly damaging for the sporting world if vaccine mandates were to continue to stop the Serb from competing.

"It will be shocking if he's not going to be able to play in the next two years because of not getting the vaccination," Corretja said. "That would be devastating for our sport, and therefore sport in general. I hope he's going to be able to play as many tournaments as he can. And definitely he knows that he will need to respect the rules of every country. I know he knows that and he is willing to pay that price."

The Eurosport commentator then expressed his hope that Djokovic will be able to feature as regularly as possible.

"If he says 'I'm not vaccinated, can I play?' and they say yes, he will go," Corretja added. "And if they say 'you need to get vaccinated', he will stay at home. I think it'd be better if he can play as many tournaments as he can. This will be nicer and we will have the number one in the world playing the tournaments, which I think is the best thing for all of us."

Djokovic is the defending French Open and Wimbledon champion, having won three of the four Grand Slam events last year. The 34-year-old will play for the first time this year at the Dubai ATP 500 event next week.

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