Novak Djokovic has revealed that he will not participate in future Grand Slams if it means he has to take a Covid vaccination, sacrificing his prospects of becoming tennis’ greatest ever male athlete.
The Serbian, 34, was last month deported from Australia amid a row over his vaccination status, with the government cancelling his visa ahead of the Australian Open.
The World No 1 said he had obtained a medical exemption to compete at the tournament as he had recently recovered from the virus.
However, Australia’s Immigration Minister claimed that Djokovic’s presence in Melbourne would cause ‘civil unrest’ and subsequently deported him.
Djokovic’s rival Rafael Nadal went on to win the tournament Down Under, taking his Grand Slam tally to 21, one more than the Serbian’s haul of 20.
Now, Djokovic has broken his silence on the visa saga and says he would choose not play at future tournaments – foregoing his chance to be considered, statistically, tennis’ greatest male player – if he has to take the vaccine to compete.
‘Yes, that is the price that I’m willing to pay,’ he told the BBC.
‘Because the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else. I’m trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can.’
Speaking from his tennis base in Belgrade, Djokovic also distanced himself from the anti-vaxx movement, revealing that he was vaccinated as a child, but believes in his freedom to ‘choose what you put in your body.’
The 34-year-old added: ‘I have always been a great student of wellness, wellbeing, health, nutrition,’ and insisted that he is ‘keeping [his] mind open’ to the possibility of being vaccinated in the future ‘because we are all trying to find collectively, a best possible solution to end Covid’.
‘I was never against vaccination. I understand that globally, everyone is trying to put a big effort into handling this virus and seeing, hopefully, an end soon to this virus.’
Djokovic also addressed criticism directed towards him regarding the sequence of events leading to his initial visa approval in Australia.
The Serb’s decision to conduct an interview with French outlet L’Equipe shortly after testing positive for Covid has resulted in doubts surrounding his medical exemption claims.
There are also doubts over the timing of Djokovic’s positive test on December 16, with the serial number of his test appearing out of sequence with a sample of tests in Serbia over the same period.
‘I understand that there is a lot of criticism, and I understand that people come out with different theories on how lucky I was or how convenient it is,’ he said.
‘But no-one is lucky and convenient of getting Covid. Millions of people have and are still struggling with Covid around the world. So I take this very seriously, I really don’t like someone thinking I’ve misused something or in my own favour, in order to, you know, get a positive PCR test and eventually go to Australia.’
Djokovic denied the suggestion that his tests had been tampered with and stressed that an error in one of his travel documents was unintentional.
‘I was really sad and disappointed with the way it all ended for me in Australia,’ he added. ‘It wasn’t easy.
‘The visa declaration error was not deliberately made. It was accepted and confirmed by the Federal Court and the minister himself in the Ministry for Immigration in Australia.
‘So actually, what people probably don’t know is that I was not deported from Australia on the basis that I was not vaccinated, or I broke any rules or that I made an error in my visa declaration. All of that was actually approved and validated by the Federal Court of Australia and the Minister for Immigration.
‘The reason why I was deported from Australia was because the Minister for Immigration used his discretion to cancel my visa based on his perception that I might create some anti-vax sentiment in the country or in the city, which I completely disagree with.’
Djokovic’s bombshell interview comes after Sportsmail revealed that the 34-year-old faces another visa saga after being included on the entry list for next month’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
While the tournament is following tour protocols – which have held back from making the jab compulsory – it is entering the United States which remains hugely problematic for him if he continues his stance of refusing to get vaccinated.
A somewhat cagey tournament press release buried the fact that he had entered, while emphasising the appearance of others such as Rafael Nadal. That is because getting on a flight to the USA is very difficult without being jabbed.
Exceptions for the unvaccinated are limited to a few categories, such as a ‘humanitarian or emergency exemption’ or persons whose presence is in the ‘national interest’.
Therefore it remains unclear where he might play after this month’s appearance at the Dubai Championships.
More to follow.
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