The best tennis player in the world is thrown out of the country by Australia. Rightly so. Now Novak Djokovic is facing much more adversity – as his self-dismantling sets new standards.
The Australian Open 2022 will take place without the current best tennis player in the world. Novak Djokovic’s appeal against the revocation of his visa by the Australian immigration minister has been rejected, Djokovic has already left the country, on a plane bound for Dubai. It is the conclusion of an undignified, at times bizarre farce that has kept not only the sports world on tenterhooks in recent days.
What’s more, it’s the only right decision. Too many things just didn’t seem to fit together in the statements of the 34-year-old, who has won the tournament in Melbourne nine times so far, more than any other player in tennis history.
Djokovic doesn’t deserve any more understanding
Instead of facing his tenth triumph, the “Djoker” is suddenly even facing the shards of a career that until a few weeks ago could have been the very greatest in his sport. Now, however, Djokovic will always be spoken of with a “but …”.
For the eleven days since Djokovic’s attempted entry into Australia will have a lingering effect – there is simply too much that has come together for it to be graciously overlooked. Because this Novak Djokovic no longer deserves the understanding, the indulgence of the tennis world, the sport, the world public. He has gambled it away.
Novak Djokovic has – possibly even wilfully – made false statements in his entry application. He may even have lied. And: Not only is there a big question mark behind his behaviour as a person who tested positive for the coronavirus, but meanwhile also behind this very test itself. And Djokovic? He commented on the increasingly overwhelming burden of proof in a long Instagram message – and in his urge to prove that he didn’t really do much wrong, he only made it clear that he really did do a lot wrong.
Maybe Djokovic’s whole career is in question too
A world athlete, a figurehead of billion-dollar corporations, has put his career at risk by refusing a vaccination. And: he lost. The “us against the whole world” tones from Djokovic’s home country of Serbia, which glorify their hero as the victim of a very big constructed injustice against him and the whole country, are currently not only unhelpful, but counterproductive. Because only one person is responsible for Novak Djokovic’s downfall: Novak Djokovic himself.