The Humiliation of Novak Djokovic Sends a Powerful Message To The Anti-Vaxxers

It’s time to take the hard line on the non-compliant among us.

Novak Djokovic via Wikimedia Commons

One of the greatest players ever in the history of Tennis —Novak Djokovic has been denied entry to Australia, in order to participate at the first major tournament of the 2022 schedule.

Our man is currently in holed up in quarantine, appealing the decision to have his visa cancelled by the Australian authorities. Should the decision to deny Djokovic entry be upheld, the Serbian will have to deal with the humiliation of being forcibly removed from down under.

Djokovic, who has won nine Australian open titles and twenty grand slam titles, has the edge on his older rivals, Federer and Nadal, and is more than likely to win a few major titles in the months and years to come.

But his position on vaccines is seriously threatening to derail his success.

Raphael Nadal, who has been vaccinated had the following to say about the woes of his great rival:

In some way, I feel sorry for him but he knew the conditions months ago

I don’t encourage nobody. Everyone has to do what they feel is good for them but there are rules and without the vaccine there can be some troubles. He’s free to take his own position, but then there are consequences.

[But] if you are vaccinated, you can play in the Australian Open. We have been going through very challenging [time]. A lot of families have been suffering in the last three years. It’s normal that people here in Australia get very frustrated with the case because they have been going through all of very hard times.

A lot of people were not able to come back home, so from my point of view I believe in what the people who know about medicine say. If the people say we need to get vaccinated, we need to get the vaccine. If you do this, you don’t have any problem to play here

Given Australia’s position on vaccination, the defending Australian open champion’s chances of overturning the decision to deny him entry does look quite slim.

And I am extremely happy about this.