In an interview with the BBC, the first since the Melbourne joke, the Serb defends his “freedom”. While denying being antivax and ensuring that he has already been vaccinated in his life.
Not antivax for a penny but despite everything opposed to any injection against the Covid-19. This is how to summarize in broad strokes the somewhat paradoxical line of world tennis star Novak Djokovic about vaccination against the coronavirus. This Tuesday, in an exclusive interview with the BBC, the Serb tried to defend his position by explaining that nothing could change him. The proof: the world number 1 says he is ready to miss the prestigious tournaments of Roland Garros and Wimbledon rather than get vaccinated.
For lack of injection, Djokovic had been expelled from Australia in January without being able to defend his title at the Melbourne Open. After initially obtaining a waiver to come to Australia, thanks to tests certifying that he had contracted Covid-19 a month before the tournament, the Serb was finally expelled after ten days of judicial saga by the Australian government, just before the start of the tournament. He had thus let his great rival Rafael Nadal win his 21st Grand Slam tournament. A record for men and above all a trophy more than “Djoko” and Roger Federer.
“This is the price I am willing to pay”
“Yes, that’s the price I’m willing to pay”, said the Serb on the possibility of an absence from the Paris and London tournaments. He does not wish to be associated with the antivax movement but defends the right of each individual to choose what is injected into their body. “I have never been against vaccination”he assures us, indicating that he had already been vaccinated, in his youth. “But I’ve always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your own body. This principle is more important to me than any title.”
“I try to be in tune with my body as much as possible”continues Djokovic in this interview, the first since he left Melbourne, after seeing his visa canceled by the Australian authorities. “I was sad and disappointed”he says to sum up the Australian episode.
For the next few months, the world number 1 also hopes that the vaccination requirements will change and that he will be able to “play for many more years”. He remains open and does not rule out the possibility of a vaccination for him in the future, “because we are all looking, collectively, for the best possible solution to end the Covid”. The Serb could return to class at the end of the month during the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai. Vaccination is not compulsory to enter the United Arab Emirates.