Melbourne: Spanish numero uno Rafael Nadal on Tuesday took a dig at World Number one Novak Djokovic over the Serbian's request for quarantined players in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open.
Both Djokovic and Nadal are quarantining in Adelaide, where they are due to play an exhibition match on Friday, ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year.
Other than Nadal and Djokovic, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka were also jetted to Adelaide rather than Melbourne to complete their mandatory 14 days of isolation.
And when asked about the conditions of players, who are isolated in Melbourne hotels, Spanish great in an apparent swipe at Djokovic on Tuesday said "We all try to help each other, some need to make public everything they do to help others. Others... do it in a more private way without having to publish or advertise everything we're doing."
Last week, Djokovic had sent a list of suggestions to Tennis Australia on behalf of 72 players, who are not able to leave their hotel rooms after COVID cases were detected on their plane to Melbourne.
It has been learned that the Serbian star's suggestions included moving players to private homes with tennis court and providing them with better meals amid others. However, the 33-year-old's request did not have any effect on the organisers. And to make matters worse, the Australian media even went on to call players as petulant and selfish with home favourite Nick Kyrgios, who is known for his distaste towards Djokovic, calling the World Number one a "tool".
Djokovic was also forced to issue a statement in the aftermath of the event, clarifying that his "good intentions for my fellow competitors in Melbourne have been misconstrued".
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