The position Novak Djokovic (34) is all the more delicate as it is an ultra-minority: 97% of the top 100 are vaccinated, according to the ATP.
In its only statement on the Djokovic affair to date, the organization which governs the men's circuit "continues to strongly recommend vaccination" to players and even considers it "essential" so that tennis "can exist with the pandemic".
To discover
Australian Open: men's schedule and results
Australian Open: ladies schedule and results
His expulsion from Australia unanimously endorsed Sunday by the Australian Federal Court could thus be only the beginning of powerful headwinds for "Nole".
In the immediate future, it deprives him of playing on his favorite playground, he who has triumphed nine times in Melbourne, and takes him away, at best, from his ultimate quest: that of the Grand Slam coronation record, which he currently shares with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal (20 major titles each).
It also jeopardizes its place as world No. 1.
Two players have the means to dispossess him at the Australian Open, on the condition of winning there: Daniil Medvedev (n°2) and Alexander Zverev (n°3).
However, the end of the Australian tour is unlikely to spell the end of Djokovic's problems. Far from it, in the opinion of Boris Becker, six-time Grand Slam winner and ex-coach of the Serb. “I think he is making a big mistake by not getting vaccinated. A mistake that threatens the rest of his career and his chance to establish himself as the greatest player of all time,” alarmed Becker in the Daily Mail. “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 around the world without vaccination, warns the German. Maybe one day things will get back to normal, but at 34, he doesn't have much time left to achieve his goals."
In the current state of health constraints, and in an itinerant global sport, it is an obstacle course that awaits Djokovic throughout the season.
Without being exhaustive, entering the United States, where not only the US Open but also three of the nine Masters 1000 are played, promises to be mission impossible: full vaccination is compulsory for foreign travelers and exemptions very rare.
A previous infection with Covid-19, for example, is not one of them.
If Roland-Garros half-opened the door to Djokovic under a health bubble, through the voice of the French Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu, “all I would say is that I believe in vaccination and that I think it is a wonderful thing,” replied British Prime Minister Boris Johnson when asked about the Wimbledon tournament.
Three years without Australia?
"Novak is going to have to find a way to get vaccinated, otherwise he's going to face this problem far too often to play and win more Grand Slams, which is his ultimate goal," said the 2013 winner. of Wimbledon, Marion Bartoli, with the BBC.
Even in the event that the pandemic no longer dictates such health restrictions, the horizon will not necessarily clear up for Djokovic.
To cancel his visa for a second time, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke applied a provision of Australian law which in theory implies a ban on entry to the country for three years.
“Except in certain compelling circumstances affecting the interests of Australia” in particular, specify the local authorities.
“Djoko” could then set foot in Australia only at 37 years old.
Where will his tennis career be at that age?
Djokovic has “very firm convictions, explains Becker.
The same incredible determination with which I have seen him win so many close matches can become a vulnerability through his stubbornness.
“We have gone through and we are going through very difficult times around the world with this pandemic.
There is a solution, this solution is the vaccine, that's all, ”slice Rafael Nadal from the Australian Open.
“Is Novak going to take this step? Asks Becker.
I'm not sure of it.
(…) If he does not do it, in ten years he will understand that he made a mistake.
