Novak Djokovic, a winning machine, but embroiled in controversy over his denial of vaccines

Growing up amid the NATO bombings of Serbia, Novak Djokovic is a winning machine who can become the greatest tennis player in history. But it has yet to conquer hearts, for various reasons and not always obvious.

The latest setback occurred on Thursday in Australia, where the 34-year-old tennis player had gone with the challenge of reaching the absolute record of 21 Grand Slam titles and breaking the tie with two other racquet legends, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.

But the dream faded when he landed in Melbourne: the authorities canceled his visa after the Serbian, with a medical exemption from the Open organizers, did not clarify whether he had been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The granting of this exemption had already caused an angry reaction against a player, never as appreciated as Federer or Nadal.

And that seems to have everything to be a mass idol: affable, respectful, available, funny, patriot, good father of a family, intelligent, cultivated, polyglot …

Is it perhaps because it is too mechanical? Too predictable? Too defensive? Overreact a lot perhaps? Or could it be perceived as arrogant? It may simply be that it is too strong for the rest.

Neither does the public’s weakness for Federer or the empathy for Nadal, Djokovic’s two ‘close enemies’ in his career on the ATP circuit, help.

To a journalist who asked him how he took to be considered the “little”(“ Bad guy ”) in the pursuit of Federer and Nadal, Djokovic replied:“I don’t consider myself the bad guy. That’s your opinion”.

Secrets and controversies

Although at 34 he is in better shape than his two main rivals, the Serbian’s bad reputation has been on the rise during the pandemic, when he has been skeptical of the disease and vaccines.

His decision to organize a tournament in the Balkans (Adria Tour) in mid-2020 could have been born with the best of intentions, but it became a focus of COVID-19 infections, including him and his wife Jelena.

He then publicly expressed his doubts about the COVID-19 vaccination program, earning the pejorative support of “Novax”.

But, along with the controversies, Djokovic has shown great gestures and invests time and effort in his seduction campaign: he jokes with the audience, signs many autographs, he never tires of posing for photos with children …

In addition, he speaks excellent English, German, Italian and increasingly better French. In his first title at Roland Garros he drew a big heart with his racket on the clay and in 2020 he gave his victory racket to a child.

On the track, it’s hard to argue with his greatness, despite a slump in form after elbow surgery four years ago that even knocked him out of the top 20 in the ATP rankings.

But now, the Serbian has achieved 20 Grand Slams and a total of 86 titles. He broke Pete Sampras’ world number one record for weeks and has a record of victories in his favor against both Nadal and Federer.

And he’s still in top shape despite his age. Your secret? A gluten-free diet for ten years, something paradoxical for a pizza maker’s son, an oxygen chamber for recovery, a guru for the mental aspects or visits to a mysterious “pyramid” in Bosnia (which is actually a natural hill ).

Bombings over Belgrade

At just seven years old, he already told Serbian television that he wanted to be number one in the world.

Detected by the mentor Jelena Gencic, who also instilled in him knowledge of classical music or literature, Djokovic trained in the Partizan in Belgrade and later his family made a huge effort to send him to Germany.

Born in Belgrade in 1987, the young Djokovic was deeply marked by the experience of the Kosovo war, when he was just 12 years old.

To escape NATO bombing, he spent two and a half months at night in bomb shelters … and by day on a tennis court, as the normal school was closed.

Very patriotic, although he prefers to have his residence in Monaco, Djokovic is used to defending the image of Serbia and is concerned with establishing ties with the countries of the former Yugoslavia.