At first glance, Novak Djokovic starts the 2022 season with a resounding success.
Posted at 7:00 p.m.
After a four-night stay at an asylum-seeker hotel in Australia, where comfort is light years away from the luxury establishments he is used to, a judge allowed him to stay in the country and participate in the first major tournament of the season.
A less pugnacious athlete would have given up sooner and left on the first flight. Djokovic, and this explains his huge track record, is rather made of hardened steel. He is inhabited by the desire to surpass himself. Hence his extraordinary career.
Unless Australia’s Immigration Minister uses his discretion to expel him from the country, Djokovic will therefore defend his title in the tournament which begins next Sunday evening, Montreal time. He will thus get the chance to beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the greatest number of Grand Slam titles.
The controversy is not going to end anytime soon, however. It is already part of the legacy of Djokovic, a heritage today clouded by selfishness, the rejection of science, the inability to understand simple realities on the transmission of a virus and a disturbing dogmatism.
Djokovic also shows a deep contempt for the vast majority of tennis fans, the very ones who respect the sanitary instructions, the very ones who keep the economic engine of the sports industry running, the very people who allowed him to acquire a fortune.
All of this is incredibly sad. But this is not surprising.
To understand Djokovic’s attitude to the pandemic, we must go back to June 2020, in the wake of the long “pause” that has occurred in several countries due to COVID-19.
To compensate for the postponement of many tournaments, Djokovic had the splendid (!) Idea of organizing his own friendly competition, the Adria Tour, a series of matches presented in the Balkans. The idea was to give players a chance to practice their sport while raising funds for charitable causes. But, as we learned later, the taste for party despite the dangers associated with the pandemic was also on the agenda.
Matches were presented in front of crowded stands, the wearing of masks and physical distancing were hardly respected. Images of nightclub trips were posted on social media.
Surprise, surprise, the initiative turned into a disaster. Several players, including Djokovic, contracted COVID-19 and the tournament was canceled well ahead of the scheduled date of its conclusion. A pitiful affair, from start to finish.
In the following days, Djokovic tried to justify the holding of the Adria Tour. “Everything we’ve done in the past month, we’ve done with a pure heart and genuine intentions,” he said, conveniently avoiding speaking of poor judgment.
Djokovic added: “We held the tournament at a time when the virus was weakening, believing that the conditions required to hold the event were in place. “
The reality is that no serious expert believed in the virus being permanently weakened in the summer of 2020. Here is the danger when world superstars suddenly think they are experts, even on subjects they do not understand.
No, Novak, fame on the tennis court does not bring infused science.
These events are precursors of the current situation. Djokovic says he received a positive result in a test for COVID-19 in Belgrade on December 16. However, according to a BBC review, he participated in a trophy presentation the next day. In the published photos of the event, he is not wearing a mask, nor in other photos taken the next day for a French daily. Nor would he have complied with the 14-day solitary confinement required by the Serbian government in the event of a positive test.
The rules ? Obviously, Djokovic does not believe they apply to him.
I have always liked Djokovic. Because of not only his incomparable strength of character, but also his generosity in the multiple interviews he gives to the four corners of the world. He does not know the language of wood.
Multilingual, we heard him express himself in remarkable French during his visits to Montreal. He also possesses a gift of imitator which has sometimes irritated his rivals. This facetious side made him an endearing character.
But this time it’s no joke. By refusing to be vaccinated – according to Reuters, which cites an official transcript, he finally admitted it when he arrived in Australia – Djokovic is also sending the wrong message. I do not know how fans of Down Under tennis (the term used to refer to Australia) will react when he takes to the field.
Will he be applauded or booed? Will the crowd be divided between the people who support it and the others? How will his rivals welcome him? Do they think he’s been given a privilege because he’s the best player in the world?
We will soon have the answer to these questions, unless the Australian government cancels his visa. If such a decision is in the cards, it is better to announce it as soon as possible. Because each day that passes consolidates Djokovic in his rights.
Unless the latter scenario materializes, Djokovic will therefore have won an important legal battle, especially because of the mistakes made by immigration officials when he arrived in Australia.
This victory, however, is a false victory. Because for thousands of amateurs around the world, and I am one of them, Djokovic’s triumph is that of an unvaccinated one who still refuses to participate in our colossal collective effort to fight the pandemic. It will be impossible to forget.