"Either Novak Djokovic gets vaccinated or he would do better to stay at home" - Former Roland Garros champion Adriano Panatta

Adriano Panatta, who won the 1976 French Open, came out strongly against Novak Djokovic's potential participation in the 2022 Rome Masters. Italy's cabinet undersecretary for sports stated in a recent interview that the Serb would be allowed to enter the competition despite being unvaccinated.

The country's state of emergency is slated to end on March 31, after which there will no longer be a vaccination mandate. In light of that, Panatta spoke to Italian news agency Adnkronos to express his disapproval of the developments.

The Italian felt that the World No. 1 has no business playing on the clay courts of Rome unless he chose to get vaccinated. If not, he would be better off "staying at home" in that case.

However, Panatta conceded that it was ultimately not his decision to make. If the 20-time Grand Slam champion is allowed to play at the Rome Masters legally, he sees no reason why he shouldn't be able to.

"My personal opinions on [Novak] Djokovic do not change and I repeat it even now: For me, either he gets vaccinated or he would do better to stay at home," Panatta said. "Obviously, it is not me who decides. But the rules of the tournament must comply with Italian laws and decrees. If the law allows it, then he can play."

The former World No. 4 reckoned the law should be fair to all. He further believed that making an exemption for an unvaccinated player would send the "wrong message" to the public. Although he acknowledged the 35-year-old's stature as an elite tennis player, Panatta was worried his participation might lead to "more and more confusion."

"I believe that the law must be the same for everyone. Allowing his participation, on the contrary, causes more and more confusion by giving the wrong message. I find his presence unacceptable," Panatta said. "This argument, despite the public relevance of the player, has no [basis] and I don't care anymore."

The 71-year-old even brought up the recently concluded 2022 Australian Open to justify his claims, saying that Djokovic's non-participation did not affect the tournament's status in any way. Extrapolating from that, Panatta was convinced that the Rome Masters would be able to achieve the same success even in the absence of the 5-time winner.

"The Australian Open, for example, was a great tournament even without him.The same goes for the Internazionali di Roma, which would achieve a great success even in his absence," Panatta said. "So, I don't think it's essential to talk about it."

It should be noted that Adriano Panatta's views are in line with that of Italy's undersecretary for health.

Novak Djokovic kicks off his 2022 season against Lorenzo Musetti at the Dubai Tennis Championship

Novak Djokovic kicks off his 2022 season against Lorenzo Musetti at the Dubai Tennis Championship

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic has encountered no such opposition in Dubai. The World No. 1 kicks off his 2022 season at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he squares off against Lorenzo Musetti in his opener next week.

The Serb stands a reasonable chance of winning his sixth title at the tournament, as the next five top-ranked players in the ATP rankings are playing at the Acapulco Open instead. The 20-time Grand Slam champion's most formidable opponents are likely to be World No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime (semifinals) and World No. 7 Andrey Rublev (final).