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Novak Djokovic says that if a coronavirus vaccine is mandatory for tennis players to return to world tours, then they won’t take it.
Classified as world number 1, Djokovic said in a Facebook live chat that “I would not be forced by someone to get vaccinated in order to travel.”
“Personally, I am against vaccination and I don’t want someone to force me to be vaccinated in order to travel,” Djokovic said.
“But if it becomes mandatory, what will happen? I will have to make a decision. I have my own thoughts on the matter, and I don’t know if those thoughts will ever change.”
“Hypothetically, if the season were to resume in July, August, or September, although it is unlikely, I understand that a vaccine will become a requirement immediately after we are not in strict quarantine, and there is still no vaccine,” he said.
Djokovic, who won the Australian Open in January for his 17th Grand Slam title, spoke on Sunday. He and his wife Jelena, who have two children, have previously spoken out against vaccines.
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Prominent Serbian virologist Predrag Kon, a member of the state team fighting against the spread of Covid-19, replied to Djokovic on Facebook that he should not make such statements against vaccination due to his enormous public influence in his native Balkan country.
“As one of Djokovic’s most trusted fans, I wish I had had the opportunity to explain to him the importance of immunology in public health,” Kon wrote Monday.
“It is too late now, you have assumed wrong beliefs.”
Djokovic has been described as a devoted member of the Serbian Orthodox Church. He said that “before being an athlete, I am an Orthodox Christian” in 2011, the year the church awarded Djokovic the Order of Saint Sava, its highest distinction.
AP
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has revealed that he opposes vaccines and will not have one to return to the tennis tour.
The Russian Orthodox Church, which exercises political influence over Orthodox churches in other European countries, last year opposed proposed Russian laws that would make vaccinations mandatory for public school students, saying in a resolution that parents “should retain the right to make informed decisions regarding the health of their children, including preventive vaccines, without being subjected to any pressure “and that” the persecution of parents for the use of this right is unacceptable “.
Along with almost all other sports, the tennis season is on hold due to the new coronavirus outbreak, with Wimbledon canceled for the first time since World War II and the French Open moved to September, after the US Open. . USA
If any of those events are actually played it is still up in the air, considering the number of people involved in tournaments organization and the fans sitting nearby.
Meanwhile, Australian star Nick Kyrgios forcefully ruled out playing a grand slam with no fans.
While US Open officials say it is “highly unlikely” that they will hold the season finale, which will begin on August 31, behind closed doors, organizers of the Australian Open this month said they were “exploring all the options “in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“These extraordinary times dictate the need for agility and extensive planning that explores a very wide range of options,” Australian Open chief Craig Tiley said in a statement.
“We have to be prepared for a changed environment. Obviously we hope that as a community we will be through Covid-19 as quickly and safely as possible.”
With Australia ahead of most countries in containing the spread of the disease, it now seems unlikely that the 2021 Australian Open should be held without fans.
CLIVE BRUNSKILL / GETTY IMAGES
Australian tennis bad body Nick Kyrgios ruled out playing in a Grand Slam tournament with no fans in the stands.
But if so, Kyrgios, one of the sport’s most popular artists, said Monday that he would be excluded.
“One hundred percent no,” he said when fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis asked him in a social media video if he would play a hit without fans in the stands.
In a lighthearted exchange, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, former junior doubles partners, came up with the prototype tennis player of their dreams.
As expected, Roger Federer appeared, the so-called Special Ks saying that they would take the backhand cut of the Swiss masters.
To his surprise, Kyrgios took on two traits from Djokovic despite never being a huge fan of Serbs.
“It will hurt to say it, but I will take the reverse of the Djoker,” he said.
“The guy doesn’t fail. The guy has been drilling him since he came out of the womb.”
He would also take Djokovic’s move, describing it, and Alex De Minaur’s, as “a joke”.
Kyrgios would opt for Ivo Karlovic’s serve, Jack Sock’s volleys, Benoit Paire’s “terrifying” touch, Rafael Nadal’s mental toughness and a Kokkinakis forehand “at its best”.
– With Washington Post, AAP
