Novak Djokovic talks a lot. There is hardly a tennis professional who talks about as extravagantly at his press conferences as the Serb. Not even Roger Federer. One of the reasons the Swiss became the most popular tennis player there was because he gave a polite and reasonably productive answer to every stupid question. Djokovic does that too. At least most. Because on one topic, the number one in the tennis world fell silent in the past few weeks. Then namely when it came to his vaccination status.
It was a “private matter”, said Djokovic. Sometimes he then started to scold the media or conspiratorial forces in the background who supposedly wanted to play along with him. The question related to his athletic work was relevant. Because without a vaccination – that much was clear – he would hardly have a chance of entering Australia. And thus hardly any chance of defending his title at the first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open.
Djokovic himself sowed doubts that he was vaccinated. At the very beginning of the pandemic, he had revealed himself to be a fundamental vaccine skeptic. His penchant for esotericism and alternative medicine was also documented after episodes with a mental guru and with one of the miraculous healing waters that he praised. Now the suspicion has been confirmed, if not confirmed. The Australian border authorities refused to allow him to enter the country despite a medical exemption. He was arrested and put in a quarantine hotel in Melbourne. On Monday, a judge is supposed to judge how things will proceed.
The case has turned into a state affair. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is involved, talking about a “political witch hunt”. Djokovic’s father Srdjan stylizes his son as a martyr, comparing him to Jesus and Spartacus. Meanwhile, in Serbia, its supporters are raging on the streets and in Australia, after the initial popular anger over the exemption, there is now a political storm over the question of responsibility for the chaos.
I against everyone. That is the mentality that makes Djokovic strong as an athlete, but now puts him in a mess as a private person. Because even if his wandering in the Australian jungle of justice is not solely to blame for him, the pure victim role is just as unsustainable. Djokovic himself cannot or does not want to speak at the moment. That’s what his tennis rivals do, among others. Rafael Nadal got to the heart of the matter. “If he wanted, he would play here in Australia without a problem,” he said. “Everyone is free to make their own decisions. But then there are consequences. “