LET me preface everything by saying I am a fan of Novak Djokovic.
When Pete Sampras wrote the record on Grand Slam wins, I knew it was going to be broken by Roger Federer. Then Rafael Nadal came along and he too stuffed all these trophies in his gym bag. I thought it would be awhile before someone accomplished what Federer and Nadal have done, but Djokovic came along. And Novak can actually surpass them.
Well, that is, until he met the Australian government that refuses to let him in to defend his crown at the Australian Open owing to his not being vaccinated.
Australia has one of the stringent and most contentious lockdowns due to Covid-19 and rightly so. For someone who is an anti-vaxxer like Novak to flaunt his beliefs sends the wrong message.
Furthermore, I have no idea why the Serbs think that Djokovic is being singled out. I must say that I am not surprised that the race card has been brought out.
In case you remember his Adria Tour in June of 2020, it became a super spreader for the virus with many players—Djokovic included—testing positive for the virus.
What was ironic about that was tennis pro Nick Kyrgios who was back in his native Australia when the event happened, tweeted that the event was “a boneheaded decision.”
And yet, he did an eyebrow-raising about face when he offered support for Djokovic this time around in Australia.
“We’re treating him like he’s a weapon of mass destruction at the moment; he’s literally here to play tennis. As a human, he’s obviously feeling quite alienated,” Kyrgios said. “It’s a dangerous place to be when you feel like the world is against you, and you can’t do anything right.”
Incidentally, Kyrgios is in quarantine for testing positive for Covid.
I realize these vaccines have been contentious.
To be honest, I refused to get any vaccines at first. It was my Catholic sensibilities that had its internal alarms raised and thinking “the number of the beast things the government might places in there to control people.”
Maybe too, I had seen one too many conspiracy theory films.
But as the pandemic and lockdown wore on with more people getting sick and dying, I had a change of heart. I am putting people in harm’s way. I am the one who goes out to the market and the grocery. I initially went out to pay the bills as well (but right now, I pay everything online).
I got vaccinated, and can’t wait to get my booster shot. I honestly believe that the vaccines protected me given my comorbidities.
However, my two sons have Covid-19 and they are fine. If they weren’t vaccinated, it would have been worse.
I can understand Novak. If he wins the Australian Open, he will have separated himself from Federer and Nadal with 21 slams to his name.
But defying the government mandate for selfish gain?
The problem too are these exemptions. You grant them to a few, there everyone seeking the same will point to it as a precedent.
Whether I agree with the Australian government protocols or not is immaterial. If that is the rule, that is the rule.
Early in the lockdown in the Philippines, my office refused to let me inside the premises because of my cough. Even if I had tested negative for the virus, I was still refused. I had to wait until the cough was gone and that I continued to test negative.
Their company. Their rules.
Djokovic should have not been invited in the first place. The organizers should have sat down with the Australian government to discuss this rather than let it fester in media.
Speaking of media, Novak even went to a media interview without telling the writer that he had Covid. How selfish is this guy?
By the time this column has come out, a verdict would have been reached as Novak has challenged this (An Australian court dismissed Novak Djokovic’s appeal against a deportation order on Sunday.–Ed). While I would have wanted him to win this tournament, I cannot overlook the fact that it is nothing more than for selfish gain.
Please do not bring up Serbian pride because that would make you more stupid than I thought. Hmm. Pandering to emotion.
Whether this sad affair taints his legacy, no one knows.
Let’s just hope that whatever decision that arises, everyone accepts it with a cool head.