DJOKOVIC. In an interview with the BBC, Novak Djokovic said he would rather miss tournaments, including Roland-Garros or Wimbledon, than get vaccinated against Covid-19.
[Mis à jour le 15 février à 10h15] Less than a month after being banned from Australia, Novak Djokovic who had not spoken publicly until now clarified his position on the vaccine in a BBC interview. The Serb affirms it: he is not anti-vax: “I have never been against vaccination. I understand that in the world, we are trying to make great efforts to manage this virus […] But I’ve always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your body. I try to be in tune with my body as much as possible.” If the world No. 1 confirms that he is not vaccinated against Covid-19, he is ready to sacrifice Roland-Garros and Wimbledon not to be vaccinated: “This is the price I’m willing to pay”.
Novak Djokovic also returned to the Australian trauma where he had been expelled, thinking of benefiting from a medical exemption after having tested positive for Covid last December: “I understand the criticism, I understand that people have come up with different theories about how lucky I was (to have the Covid in December) or how convenient it was. But no one is lucky or finds it convenient to catch the Covid. I take this very seriously. I was really sad and disappointed with how it ended for me in Australia, it wasn’t easy.” The Serb remains open to a possible vaccination soon and hopes “soon the end of this virus”.
While his vaccination status had never been officially revealed to the general public, the affair which shook the Serb in Australia highlighted his non-vaccination against Covid-19. The world tennis star is indeed not vaccinated against the coronavirus and was able to travel to Australia due to a positive test on December 16 which may exempt him from vaccination.
It all starts on January 5 when the Serb arrives on Australian soil following a medical exemption which authorizes him not to be vaccinated. But at the airport, the world number 1 is arrested by the border police who refuse him entry into the territory, believing that he does not sufficiently justify his medical exemption. His visa is then canceled. The next day, the Serb was placed in detention and it was finally on January 10 that Judge Kelly lifts Serbian’s visa cancellation, considering that he was unable to provide more information to the border police. He also orders his immediate release. Except that the Australian government, via the Minister of Immigration Alex Hawke, let it be known that it will evaluate the possibility of using its “personal power of cancellation”. This decision is finally made on Friday 14 January.
The Serb had already created controversy in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, by organizing the Adria Tour, a tennis and charity event, during which many participants (Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, Viktor Troicki) as well as Djokovic himself and his wife Jelena had tested positive for Covid-.9 Contaminations which quickly sparked a flood of criticism from players in the tennis world. Lack of physical distance, hugs, farandoles with children, wild dances in a Belgrade nightclub… The images of the first stages of this Adria Tour, in Belgrade and Zadar, in the midst of a global pandemic, had indeed shocked, in particular this video captured in a nightclub in Belgrade:
Novak Djokovic met Jelena Ristic during her school career in Belgrade in the early 2000s. Not everything was easy for the young lovers, since Novak played his tournaments all over the world while Jelena completed her studies in Italy. The couple finally took up residence in Monaco and decided to get married in 2014. Jelena gave birth to their son Stefan in 2014, then to a little girl named Tara, in 2016. At the same time, Jelena Djokovic is director of the Novak Djokovic foundation, which the promotion of education in their native country.