Rafael Nadal says he is getting "tired" of hearing about the latest developments in Novak Djokovic's ongoing legal wrangle and hopes the situation will be resolved soon.
The world number one has been back in detention in Melbourne after having his travel visa cancelled for the second time by authorities.
He has appealed his deportation again, and is set to learn his fate at a court hearing on the matter which is due to begin at 10.30pm on Saturday in the UK (9.30am on Sunday local time).
As the situation has developed, several stars taking part in the Australian Open from next week such as Nadal and Andy Murray have faced questions about their thoughts on the situation.
While they have generally been happy to give their two cents up to this point, Nadal says he is "a little bit tired" of discussing it while the saga overshadows the build-up to the first Grand Slam of the year.
The Spaniard, who won his 89th ATP title last week in Melbourne, said this weekend: "I tell you one thing, it's very clear that Novak Djokovic is one of the best players in history, without a doubt.
"But there is no one player in history that's more important than an event, no? Players come and then go, and other players are coming. No one, even Roger [Federer], Novak, myself, Bjorn Borg who was amazing at his times, tennis will keep going.
"The Australian Open is much more important than any player. If he's playing finally, okay. If he's not playing, the Australian Open will be a great Australian Open with or without him. That's my point of view."
But he then added: "I'm just a player seeing the circus from the outside. But, as I said, I am a little bit tired of this matter. I think it went too far. I wish Novak all the very best. And that's it, I want to play tennis."
Nadal is currently level with Djokovic and Federer in terms of Grand Slam titles, with each having won 20 of them so far in their respective stellar careers.
The Spaniard holds a lot of respect for the man whose trophy cabinet rivals his own, but said he feels people like Djokovic "need to be responsible" when it comes to important health decisions like vaccination.
"I respect him as a person. Of course, a lot as an athlete. Even if I don't agree with his way to thinking about how to proceed with this pandemic," Nadal added.
"I really believe in vaccination... and when you make your decisions then there is some consequences. We did a lot of things together. I think positive things for our sport and I wish him well.
"What we are facing worldwide is much, much more important than tennis and tennis players – millions of people have already passed away and a lot of families are suffering the consequences of this terrible pandemic."
