World No 1 or public enemy No 1?
To his critics, Novak Djokovic has been cavalier and reckless in the face of a deadly pandemic. But students of the tennis star’s game note that bending reality has been a secret to his success, until now.
The dizzying saga playing out in Australia over Djokovic’s refusal to get vaccinated against the coronavirus has cemented his image as the defiant figure in men’s tennis and made the world’s No 1 player an unwitting new hero to the anti-vaxx movement. He has earned a new, and surely unwanted, nickname: No-vaxx.
In many ways, Djokovic has handled the pandemic like he would a tennis match, ignoring long odds and favouring alternative remedies over traditional medicine. His unconventional approaches to physical and mental fitness over the years have included consulting spiritual gurus, laying in hyperbaric chambers, visiting healing “pyramids” and working with a coach to develop reality-distortion skills.
But the current reality is that every player at the Australian Open, which starts today, needs a Covid-19 vaccine or a valid medical exemption to participate. The country’s immigration minister cancelled the unvaccinated Djokovic’s visa on Friday, citing health and “good order” considerations.
Djokovic, appealed the decision, with a decidion expected overnight.
For the top-ranked 34-year-old player from Serbia, the timing could not be worse. This Australian Open was supposed to be the stage of a crowning achievement as he seeks his record 21st
Grand Slam title, a feat that would catapult him past rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, with whom he is tied at 20.
Fellow players and former coaches have urged Djokovic to acquiesce to a Covid-19 vaccine, saying tennis needs him on the court, not stoking political debates.
“All this could have been avoided, like we’ve all done, by getting vaccinated,” Spanish tennis star Garbin˜ e Muguruza said during a pre-tournament news conference in Melbourne. “Everybody knew very clearly the rules. You just have to follow them, and that’s it. I don’t think it’s that difficult.”
Boris Becker, a former top-ranked player who coached Djokovic from 2013-2016, said the same determination and stubbornness that fuels Djokovic’s strength on court can also be his weakness.
“He is a street fighter. That is his mentality, and it is what made him big and so successful. It is hard to change that,” Becker said in a recent interview with BBC Sport.
Djokovic has often attributed his toughness to growing up in war-ravaged Serbia in the 1990s. In Serbia, Djokovic is revered as a national hero, who overcame the odds in a country economically crippled by war with little tennis pedigree and few tennis courts to become the world’s No 1 player.
“Most people don’t decide what they want from life when they’re 6 years old, but I had,” Djokovic wrote in his 2013 diet and fitness book, Serve to Win. Inspired by watching Pete Sampras win Wimbledon on TV, he decided it would be him one day. “For the next 13 years, I gave every day of my life to reaching my goal.”
He also delved into meditation to help calm his mind and learned visualisation techniques that he says allowed him to feel elevated above stressful situations.
After saving two match points to beat Federer in a five-set thriller in the 2019
Wimbledon final, Djokovic explained how he coped during what was “probably the most mentally demanding match” of his career, playing against arguably the most-loved tennis player of all time.
“So when the crowd is chanting ‘Roger,’ I hear Novak,” he said. “I try to convince myself.”
Some of Djokovic’s convictions have drawn negative headlines. In May 2020, he claimed during an Instagram live interview with self-styled wellness guru Chervin Jafarieh that people could use positive thinking to alter the composition of toxic food and polluted water.
Djokovic and his wife, Jelena, share New Age, esoteric beliefs and together have visited the Bosnian hill town of Visoko, where some believe that four hills shaped like pyramids offer healing powers, a claim disputed by scientists.
The tennis star’s visits have spurred tourism to the site where Bosnian amateur archaeologist Semir
Osmanagic opened a pyramid park that features a web of underground tunnels he claims emit a special energy.
Osmanagic, who has been photographed giving Djokovic personal tours of the park, supports the player’s anti-vaccine stance.
“He is an outstanding athlete who is very strict about what he eats, drinks and what he puts in his body, and he is standing up for freedom of choice,” Osmanagic told AP.
Unlike the heavy criticism Djokovic has faced internationally, he has widespread support in Serbia, where the revoking of his Australian visa is viewed as anti-serb. Until the drama Down Under began, Djokovic had refused to say if he was vaccinated but it was clear that he was vaccine sceptic.
“I’m personally against vaccines and I wouldn’t want anyone to force me to take one so I can travel,” he said during an April 2020 online chat with other Serbian tennis players.
His vaccination status is not Djokovic’s first controversy, but the drawn-out saga at the Australian Open is raising questions about his legacy.
—Ap