The liar poker game ended with a post from Novak Djokovic on Instagram. A photo where we see the world No. 1 leaning on a baggage cart on a tarmac, ready to take off for Australia. “I had a great time with those I love during my break,” writes the Serbian, three-time defending champion in Melbourne. I’m leaving for Australia with an exemption (Editor’s note: vaccination). Let’s go for 2022! “
With the tip of his racket, the Belgradois therefore managed to bend the organizers of the first Major of the season and the government of the state of Victoria, which had nevertheless shown its firmness in welcoming the competitors.
At the end of November 2021, Tennis Australia had confirmed that all players playing the tournament should be vaccinated with one of the eight vaccines recognized by the country’s health authorities (Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen, to which have been added Sinovac, AstraZeneca (Serum Institute of India), Sinopharm China and Bharat Biotech). Thus, the Russian player Natalia Vikhlyantseva, ex-54th in the world, had to bypass because her vaccination with Sputnik V was not accepted.
Djokovic, champion of alternative medicines and who has constantly expressed his mistrust of vaccination, has always refused to say publicly whether or not he was vaccinated once morest Covid-19. The Belgradois even skipped the ATP Cup, which he had to play with his compatriots in Sydney this week, which might suggest a forfeit.
But the boss of the circuit, who had contracted the virus in the spring of 2020, seems visibly stronger than the vaccine. And above all, he had to find solid arguments to convince the two medical commissions in charge of granting exemptions.