the times | Wednesday February 16 2022 2GM 59
TennisSport
Grand slams’ vaccine rules
French Open May 22-June 5
Protocols in France require
everyone who enters public venues
to show proof of vaccination. This
applies to professional athletes,
although Djokovic could potentially
receive an exemption because his
Covid-19 infection is within the
previous six months.Wimbledon June 27-July 10
There is no suggestion that the All
England Club will introduce any
requirements beyond government
rules. This means that Djokovic can
play as long as he takes a Covid-19
test before and after his arrival in
England. A period of quarantine is
required only if he returns a positive
result.US Open August 29-September 11
As it stands, Djokovic will require an
exception from the American
government. These are issued to
individuals who are medically
unable to receive the vaccine or
emergency travellers who do not
have timely access to a jab.
Humanitarian exemptions are
granted on an “extremely limited
basis”.(GOAT) is both an objective and
subjective debate that can become
hysterical, chose to refer to Djokovic’s
potential GOAT status as statistical.
When asked if the world No 1 was
prepared to sacrifice his legacy for his
principles, Djokovic said: “Yes, I do.”
It was an odd phrase to use.twist. There were no passion flowers
or orchids for the backdrop of this
conversation. It was all very spartan,
as if to reflect the days Djokovic spent
in detention in a hotel in Melbourne
which, he said, “wasn’t pleasant”.
Rajan, aware that the argument
as to who is the greatest of all timeT
his was not really very
Novak Djokovic at all, and
throughout the half-hour
show, if you pressed your
ear tightly to the TV, you
could hear the wheels of a fresh PR
approach turning in an overly oiled
fashion. The first thing we learnt is
that Djokovic is still sponsored by
Lacoste, even though the French
clothing brand was understood to be
reviewing its relationship with the
Serb after the Australian Open
debacle. There it was, the cheeky little
This was no ethical struggle – Djokovic interview was pure PR
green crocodile, emblazoned on
Djokovic’s hoodie and, let’s face it, he
did not get where he is today by
wearing logos he is not paid to wear.
Towards the conclusion of the
BBC 1 interview, Amol Rajan, the BBC
media editor, listed the grand slams
that Djokovic is prepared to miss, on
a matter of principle, and then said:
“Why, Novak, why?” in a voice so
plaintive, so full of pathos and
incredulity that it is hard not to
believe that the presenter practised
this moment in front of the mirror in
the aircraft toilet as he flew to
Belgrade for what he called, on
Twitter, a “Mega global SCOOP”.
Indeed, the BBC deemed it so very
mega that they bumped Garden
Rescue to screen the interview. Not
just any Garden Rescue either. This
episode was to feature a Victorian
cottage garden with an AmazonianThere was no sobbing from
Djokovic. This is not a man struggling
with ethical or moral dilemmas. His
demeanour was of one who is certain
that being a GOAT candidate gives
him a separateness, a licence to be
selfish. A jab is a jab, just as a cake is
cake, and he does not eat cake.
Did the PR work? The hearts of
hardened cynics would have surely
melted as Djokovic revealed that
his son cheered for Rafael Nadal as
the family sat down to watch the
Australian Open final.
There was a poignancy there. It was
Djokovic’s own fault he was not in the
Rod Laver Arena, and he clearly
believes that is proof of the purity of
his stance.
However, his Clintonesque
insistence that “I never inspired that”
when it comes to antivax protests was
what lingered as the credits rolled.Alyson Rudd
Djokovic spoke to
Rajan, the BBC
media editor, in an
exclusive interview
in which the world
No 1 said he was
prepared to
sacrifice his legacy
for his principles‘I was never against vaccination’
body as much as I can.” While Djokov-
ic’s reluctance means it is likely that he
will be unable to play some events over
the coming months, leaving him at risk
of losing his world No 1 ranking, The
Times understands that he will be free
to participate at Wimbledon.
The All England Club is yet to con-
firm arrangements for this year’s cham-
pionships, given that there are still four
months to go before the grass-court
grand-slam tournament starts on June
27, but sources believe it unlikely that
any further requirements will be intro-
duced beyond the government’s rules.
As it stands, Djokovic can enter
England as long as he takes a Covid-19
test before and after his arrival.
Quarantine of up to ten days is required
only if he returns a positive result.
Djokovic, 34, is the only player in the
top 100 of tennis’s world male singles
rankings not to be vaccinated against
Covid-19. A spokesman for the ATP,
the governing body of the men’s tour,
said that 99 per cent of this elite group
were fully jabbed, which leaves the
world No 1 as the only player to have
turned down all opportunities to
continued from back Behind the story
I
t was always likely that Novak
Djokovic would this week
speak publicly for the first
time since his deportation from
Australia last month, Stuart
Fraser writes. The world No 1 is
scheduled to make his return to
competitive action at the Dubai
Championships, starting on
Monday, and was eager to avoid a
barrage of vaccination-related
questions in his pre-tournament
press conference.
Nonetheless, the manner of his
first interview was unexpected.
Rather than inviting an outlet in
his native Serbia to speak with
him, he agreed to a TV sitdown
with the BBC’s media editor,
Amol Rajan. For those of us who
have followed Djokovic’s career
closely, it was a surprise given
that his relationship with the
British press has been frosty in
recent years because of what he
perceives to be overly negative
coverage.
Choosing the BBC was also
ironic given that it was a story
from their website — on
Djokovic’s views on Covid-19
vaccines — that was cited by the
Australian immigration minister,
Alex Hawke, in his order to
deport the 20-times grand-slam
champion because of fears his
presence could foster anti-
vaccination sentiment.
Put simply, the decision by
Djokovic to welcome a BBC crew
in Belgrade to conduct an
interview and film training
sessions was strangely out of
character. So it was illuminating
to discover from well-placed
sources yesterday that Freuds, a
London-based public relations
firm, was heavily involved in
setting up the opportunity.
Drafting in outside PR help
like this has been a long time
coming. There is an extensive list
of tone-deaf missteps throughout
his career, most recently the
triumphant social media post last
month that announced he had
received a medical exemption to
travel to Australia.
By fronting up to the BBC,
Djokovic can claim in Dubai
next week that he has already
addressed the Australian visa
saga when he inevitably receives
further inquiries.TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND
receive a vaccine. The vaccination rate
of ATP Tour players has increased
significantly over the past six months.
In August, before the US Open, it was at
about 50 per cent. But the mandatory
requirement to be jabbed for the Aus-
tralian Open, barring a valid medical
exemption, encouraged many players.
Djokovic’s stance is believed to have
made some of his sponsors uneasy —
Peugeot and Lacoste are among his
partners. He insisted he was not part of
the anti-vaccination movement but
said that the principle of choice over
what he puts into his body was more
important to him than being able to
continue his career.
“I was never against vaccination,”
Djokovic said. “I understand that
globally everyone is trying to put a big
effort into seeing an end soon to this
virus. But I’ve always supported the
freedom to choose what you put in your
body. I just don’t have enough clarity on
how the Covid vaccine will affect me,
whether it’s going to create a certain
effect on my game and I wouldn’t have
the benefits that I normally have.
“As an elite professional athlete, I
have always carefully reviewed every-
thing that comes in from the supple-
ments, food, the water that I drink, or
sports drinks, anything really, that
comes into my body as a fuel. Based on
all the information that I got, I decided
not to take the vaccine as of today.”
But Djokovic did not rule out the pos-
sibility of changing his mind. “I keep my
mind open,” he said. “There is always a
possibility things will change in the
future. As of today, this is my decision.”
Djokovic will return to competitive
action at the Dubai Championships,
starting on Monday, as there are no
restrictions on unvaccinated players
entering the United Arab Emirates. But
the loss of 2,000 points from his
inability to defend his title at the
Australian Open, after he was deported
on “health and good order grounds”,
means that he may be overtaken by
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev at the top of
the rankings even if he wins the title.
Medvedev, who finished runner-up
to Rafael Nadal in Melbourne, will end
Djokovic’s stretch of 86 consecutive
weeks at No 1 if he becomes the cham-
pion at the concurrent Acapulco Open
in Mexico.
If Djokovic manages to remain at
No 1, then he will still be vulnerable
over the coming months. This is
because his participation in the first
three ATP Masters 1000 tournaments
of the season — in Indian Wells, Miami
and Monte Carlo — is in doubt because
of restrictions on unvaccinated travel-
lers in the United States and France.Champion
Final
Semi-final
Quarter-final
Fourth round
Third round
Second round
First round
N/A
2005 2010 2015 2020Djokovic at
Wimbledon