Novak Djokovic is “the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis” but off the court he leaves behind a “complicated” legacy
“I see life as a big learning curve,” Djokovic said in an interview with CNN last year, “and I feel like I’ve learned over the years to get back up.”
That ability will be put to the test in the coming days as the world No. 1 has had a tumultuous start to the year.
After arriving in Australia, where he was allowed to compete unvaccinated but with a medical exemption after a positive Covid-19 test on December 16, Djokovic spent the first five days in a detention center in Melbourne as he objected to the revocation of his visa court moved.
His lawyers successfully argued that Djokovic had met “absolutely all the criteria” for a vaccine exemption with his recent Covid infection, but four days later Australia’s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke announced the decision to block Djokovic’s visa for the second time “on health and good grounds.” “order” to revoke.
It remains unclear whether Australia will expel Djokovic as the decision is being contested by his legal team.
But it is another setback for the 34-year-old Serbian in his bid to overtake Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer at the top of the men’s all-time list of 21 Grand Slam titles.
Such a success would likely be the culmination of Djokovic’s already record-breaking career – the point at which he would cement his status as the best player in the history of men’s football.
“Strictly speaking, Novak Djokovic is the best player in the history of professional men’s tennis,” he said Journalist Ben Rothenberg.
“He has the most Grand Slam titles along with Federer and Nadal, but Djokovic dominates pretty much every tiebreak category imaginable: most weeks at No. 1, a winning streak against the other two, and he has every Grand Slam and Win the Masters 1000 tournament at least twice (no one else has won them all once).
“Djokovic is a counterattacker with a great serve, an exceptionally flexible athlete, and while he is probably not considered the most stylistically appealing player of all time, he is the one who is the most effective and dominant on the court over a long period of time.
Djokovic’s phenomenal record at the Australian Open, a tournament he has won nine times, had made him the favorite ahead of this year’s tournament, even taking into account his prison time.
Nadal has six his return from injury last week by winning the 89th title of his career at the summer tournament in Melbourne acceleratedwhile Daniil Medvedev, who beat Djokovic in the US Open final last year, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas are also contenders for the title.
Novak is Serbia, and Serbia is Novak
But few would have bet against Djokovic, who has been vociferously supported by his fans – both in Melbourne and in his home country of Serbia – throughout his visa saga.
Last week, a crowd gathered outside the Park Hotel in Melbourne to protest Djokovic’s stay there, while cries of support were heard outside his lawyers’ office after he was approved to stay in Australia.
Similar scenes occurred in front of the Serbian National Assembly in Belgrade, where the tennis star was celebrated as a national hero by his family.
“They’re keeping him prisoner. Our Novak, our pride,” Djokovic’s father Srdjan railed last week in support of his son. “Novak is Serbia, and Serbia is Novak… If they trample on Novak, then they also trample on Serbia and the Serbian people.”
Despite the passionate support of his fans, Djokovic remains a divided personality – within the tennis community and beyond.
Die The decision to grant him a medical exemption for the Australian Open was met with criticism. Stephen Parnis, one of the city’s best-known emergency physicians, said it was “an appalling message to the public.”
“Of course I’m not an expert and I’m not going to talk about what the advantages and disadvantages of vaccination are,” said Djokovic told CNN in August“but I am a proponent of choice.”
He added: “I really believe it should be left to a player to make a decision.
“We don’t know what the future holds. I don’t think any industry is really sure what the future holds.
“We will ensure we gather as much expert information as possible, work with players and provide them with all the information they need to make an informed decision.
In the meantime were also questions on Djokovic’s behavior after his positive Covid test last month raised .
On Wednesday he acknowledged that he did not immediately isolate himself after the positive result, but denied that he knew he had the virus when he attended public events.
He also said he made a “bad decision” when he gave a media interview and photo shoot with French newspaper L’Equipe on December 18, two days after his positive test.
I still have my fears, my insecurities.”
It is not the first time that Djokovic’s actions during the pandemic have been questioned.
In June 2020, his tournament on the Adria Tour was canceled after he tested positive for Covid-19 along with his wife, three other players, three coaches and a player’s pregnant wife.
Unlike other tennis tournaments that took place at the time, there were on the Adria Tour only limited social distancing as the tournament was played in packed stadiums where players hugged and high-fived each other.
“I deeply regret that our tournament has caused damage,” said Djokovic after his positive test, adding that the charity event was organized “with a pure heart and sincere intentions.”
Nine months before the Adria Tour, Djokovic got into trouble when he was at den US Open from the tournament because of a ball that hit a linesman excluded became. He apologized again and said he was left “sad and empty” by the situation.
In an interview with CNN last year, Djokovic spoke about this period and learned his lessons from it.
“I’m still a human being like everyone else, I still have my fears, my insecurities, I still make mistakes and mistakes,” he said. “Tennis is something like my learning field. My strongest and most beautiful emotions come out there, but my worst emotions also come out there.”
Djokovic’s stance on vaccines is likely to come under further scrutiny during this year’s Australian Open and beyond. According to the ATP Tour He is one of three unvaccinated players in the top 100.
“Djokovic’s legacy is extremely complicated and becoming more and more complicated,” Rothenberg said.
“For all his professionalism and generosity (he’s great at charities and with his fans), his judgment often gets him into trouble and often leads him…to fringe ideas, like his recent anti-vaccination advocacy.
“Tennis is a lot about personality and grace on and off the court, and Djokovic has repeatedly sabotaged himself in these areas.”
CNN reached out to Djokovic’s representatives for comment several times in the lead-up to the Australian Open but did not receive a response.
Djokovic won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2008, after which he had to wait three years for his next major triumph, also at the Australian Open.
In the six years between 2011 and 2016, the Grand Slam titles piled up – 11 in total – culminating in Djokovic winning the “Nole Slam” as defending champion in all four Grand Slam tournaments simultaneously.
But an elbow injury in 2017 derailed Djokovic’s progress. His initial refusal to undergo surgery frustrated his former coach Andre Agassi, who agreed Guardian saidhe believes Djokovic was hoping his elbow would “heal naturally and holistically.”
Djokovic finally opted for surgery in early 2018 and returned to the court a few months later, but it was a setback that almost made him quit tennis altogether.
“Doing the operation was against his core values,” said his wife Jelena 2019 told CNN. “It was really huge, it’s like he buried a part of himself with that decision. He said: ‘I’m done, I’m not playing tennis anymore, I’ve lost this, I’m not having fun anymore, that’s it. ‘”
Since elbow surgery, Djokovic has won eight Grand Slam titles in four years and equaled Federer and Nadal’s record at Wimbledon last year.
Many see it as only a matter of time before he claims the record and establishes himself as the greatest player in men’s tennis history – a titan on the court with a complicated, controversial legacy off the court.
CNN’s Christina Macfarlane, Don Riddell, Ben Church, Hannah Ritchie, Jessie Yeung and Angus Watson contributed reporting.
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Those: edition.cnn.com
2023-12-26 05:04:32
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