Djokovic enters a tunnel with no exit

To understand the dimension that Australia has for Novak Djokovic (34 years old) it is enough to make two parallels: the terrestrial one between Rafael Nadal and Paris, and the grassy one between Roger Federer and Wimbledon.

In other words, for the current number one, Melbourne is the cement fortress on which he has mostly built his career, the temple in which he has won more trophies than anyone else.

Nine of the 20 grand that he collects.

If the Spaniard (35) is identified with clay and the Swiss (40) with green, the hard court is Nole's favorite habitat, capable of performing on all terrains;

none, in any case, like the turquoise tapestry of the Antipodes, where the most controversial and twisted episode of his professional adventure now closes, and where a gigantic question opens: And now what?

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Those who know Djokovic closely describe him as a generous and empathetic man, willing to enrich himself and predisposed to listen, but also as someone so faithful to himself and his ideology that it is very difficult for him to give way.

That is to say, the possibility that he will rectify and decide to accept the vaccination is rather remote, so his course acquires an asterisk and his three-way struggle to be the most successful tennis player of all time remains in question.

Without the injection, the Serb's roadmap will lose at least two free points (Melbourne and New York) and the great historic race will suffer an imbalance, while the Balkan will have to redesign his calendar and compete at a different pace.

"The judge's decision can change the history of tennis," added the Swedish Mats Wilander. “Your career is on the line and you may have to do something you don't want to. He was the big favorite and had a great chance to get ahead of Roger and Rafa, but I think the decision is fair. Millions of people have died from the coronavirus and Australians have suffered greatly from the restrictions, physically and mentally," added the former number one on the Eurosport channel.

Five days ago, through the same medium, Boris Becker warned before the resolution that has returned the circuit leader to his home was known.

“The regulations will become stricter instead of more relaxed, rather.

Therefore, my opinion is that you should understand that if you get vaccinated, it will be easier for you.

I don't know if he will…”, said the German, who knows Nole's labyrinthine mind very well, since he was part of his team from 2014 to 2016, coinciding with one of the Serbian's periods of maximum splendor.

Macroon's threat

Despite the fact that the coronavirus present forces us to live from day to day, Becker was surely not misguided. Although projecting in the medium or long term is audacity, Djokovic knows that, from the outset, today he could not play the Australian Open – the deportation punishment can be extended to three years without setting foot in the oceanic country – nor the US Open, nor Neither do other tournaments that are held in North American territory such as Indian Wells or Miami, or a third Masters 1000 such as the one in Cincinnati. Nor could he participate with Serbia in the ATP Cup, the World Cup surrogate that has opened the course for three years.

Without going any further, between now and the beginning of the ground tour (April) your file could be practically blank. Last season he did, but in a different way. He had won in Australia and wanted to enjoy more time with his family. Now, therefore, it will begin to find some light as Roland Garros approaches, from May 22 to June 5. However, the panorama that can be found in Paris may not be what it is now. The French country today allows access to the unvaccinated, but on January 5, President Emmanuel Macroon spoke loud and clear in the newspaper

: “I am not in favor of fucking [

] to the French.

I complain all day when management does.

But hey, the unvaccinated I really want to screw them.

And we will continue to do so until the end.

That's the strategy."

The Belgrade Tower, illuminated with the colors of Serbia and the name of Nole. Darko Vojinovic (AP)

Despite the fact that the Sports Minister, Roxana Maracineanu, declared on France Info radio that the regulations in France and Australia are different and that "the imposed health protocols, as well as the bubbles designed for major events by the relevant federations, would allow Djokovic access the country”, perhaps the context will be different in five months. The French government plans to tighten the pressure against deniers. This weekend, in fact, the covid certificate (demonstration that you are vaccinated or carry a negative test to circulate in various public spaces) has been deactivated for around half a million people who have not completed their vaccination schedule.

On Sunday, the president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), Gilles Moretton, assured that his team is working to "welcome unvaccinated foreign athletes." Under current guidelines, Djokovic would only need a negative PCR or antigen test to be able to cross the border and play at Roland Garros, but once there, he would not be able to get on a bus, go to a museum or a restaurant, nor celebrate a hypothetical victory in a public place.

Meanwhile, and always depending on the current parameters, to travel to Wimbledon at the beginning of the summer (from June 27 to July 10) and circulate through the streets of London, it would be worth a PCR carried out two days before the trip, and a subsequent 10-day isolation (accompanied by two other negative tests, on the second and eighth days, with the possibility of quarantine on the fifth day with an extra PCR).

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However, the door to the US Open is today completely sealed for him. The US regulations are blunt: it requires being vaccinated and carrying a PCR carried out in a margin not exceeding 24 hours at the entrance. The great New Yorker was the first to be played (behind closed doors) after the first impact of the coronavirus, in August 2020. Since then, Djokovic has added three

to his file, but the present has been tinged with questions.

"The world has changed and it will be very difficult for him to lead a life as a professional tennis player without getting vaccinated," Becker warns him;

“At 34 years old, he doesn't have much time left to achieve his goals.

The same incredible determination with which I have seen him win games can be a weak point for his stubbornness.

He has very firm convictions”, continues the German, who also reached the top of the circuit.

“You have to get vaccinated or else you will run into this problem often,” Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, the 2013 Wimbledon champion, told the BBC.

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