Apart from the Australian Open, his favorite tournament, tennis player Novak Djokovic, his career suffers a lot if he perseveres not to get vaccinated against Covid-19. The refusal resulted in the decision of the Australian Justice on this Sunday (16) to deny the athlete a stay in the country, making it impossible for him to compete in the competition.
Serbian’s stance in the sport is minority: according to the ATP (Professional Tennis Federation), 97% of members of the ranking of the 100 best tennis players on the planet are vaccinated. In a statement on the matter this Sunday, the unit says it “continues to strongly recommend vaccination”, which it considers “essential” so that tennis can “exist with the pandemic”.
“The decision issued today…ends a series of deeply regrettable events,” the ATP wrote.
more distant targets
Djokovic’s expulsion from Australia could be the beginning of a difficult path for him to be able to participate in sporting events. Deprived of the Australian Open, which he won nine times in Melbourne, the tennis player immediately walks away from his biggest goal of today: a Grand Slam record. For now, he shares 20 wins with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but wants to be the first to reach 21.
The decision not to get vaccinated also jeopardizes its status as No. 1 in the world. Two players are in a position to overtake him at the Australian Open as long as they win the tournament: Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, number 2 and 3 respectively in the rankings.
Boris Becker, a six-time Grand Slam champion and former coach of Djokovic, said in the interview, “I think he makes a serious mistake, giving him the chance to spend the rest of his career and establish himself as the greatest player of all time.” Get.” Daily Mail newspaper this Sunday. “It’s not just about Australia: the world has changed and it will be very difficult for him to lead the life of a professional tennis player without vaccinations”, warns the German. “At 34, he doesn’t have much time left to reach his goals.”
Almost Impossible Entry to the United States
In the current phase of sanitation restrictions in the world and in a global and itinerant sport, Serbs will face insurmountable odds. Entering the United States, where not only is the US Open being played, but also three of the nine Masters 1000, is an impossible mission without full vaccinations. The previous transition does not justify the exception in the country.
Exemptions are extremely rare, as happened at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2021, when the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, was authorized to enter US territory to participate in the international program, even without vaccination.
Even if the pandemic is over sooner than expected, the tennis player’s horizon will remain clouded, at least with respect to Australia. To revoke the tennis player’s visa for the second time, the country’s immigration minister, Alex Hawke, invoked an article of law that, in theory, bans entry to the field for three years.
According to local officials, “in some exceptional circumstances that benefit Australia’s interests – which should probably not include the case of the Serbian tennis player” may be cancelled. In this way, he could return to the country at the age of only 37 at the end of his career.
