Rafael Nadal believes the
Australian Open as an event is more important than any player and regardless of who plays it's going to be great.
Rafael Nadal was asked during an interview whether
Novak Djokovic missing the Australian Open would hurt the event and the Spaniard took an interesting stance. In his mind events are more important than players because they are what remains constant in the tennis world. According to Rafa players come and go:
"Australian Open is much more important than any player. If he's playing finally, OK. If he's not playing, Australian Open will be a great Australian Open with or without him."
Nadal also clarified that's it's the same for any players, him, Djokovic, Federer or even the older generations. Many greats played at these events and even when they retired the events continued to be great.
Nadal also reiterated his hope that everything will be concluded soon:
"From my point of view, there is a lot of questions that need to be
answered. In some ways, I think it will be good if everything is
clarified soon. Everyone chooses his road. I wish him all the
best. I really respect him, even if I do not agree with a lot of things
that he did the last couple of weeks."