Opinion – Marina Izidro: Novak Djokovic only thinks about himself

Are you anti-vaccine and do you think Novak Djokovic represents you? He was wrong. Are you in favor and do you think that, after the shame in Australia, the Serb will be vaccinated? None of that. In the first interview since being deported, to the British network BBC, the number one in the world showed that he only cares about himself.

Let’s put aside theories that it was convenient to test positive for Covid-19 on the eve of the Australian Open to try to play the tournament with a medical exception. Or that he boycotts vaccines for having a stake in a company seeking treatment for coronavirus. Let’s go to the facts, to what he said. A nearly 30-minute interview of an intelligent and articulate athlete, but with inconsistencies.

Djokovic confirmed that he was not immunized, said that he is not against vaccines and that he took them as a child, but that he analyzes everything he ingests, even the water he drinks. In fact, he’s been talking for years about how performance has improved since cutting out gluten, dairy and dairy and switching to a plant-based diet.

But at the same time that he said that “vaccination is the greatest effort ever made” to fight the virus, he defended the freedom to choose what he puts in his own body, like someone who equates vaccine with green juice for breakfast. In the pandemic, libertarian speech is useless. Freedom is having a vaccination card.

The tennis player said he acted on what he knew: “I don’t have enough information about this vaccine.” More than ten billion doses have been applied to more than half of the planet’s population. It is safe and has been approved by the most respected regulatory agencies in the world. Saves millions of lives, prevents serious cases. What else does he want to know?

Deported from Australia for being considered a threat to public health, he said he was never part of the anti-vaccination movement and does not support protests against immunization. So, if you’re anti-vax and buy a fight to defend him, know that he won’t do the same for you.

However, he said that he could not express himself, they did not ask his opinion. Wouldn’t a sentence for the 20 million followers on social networks do? Djokovic chose to shut up. He even blamed the media for the sideways looks he received at the Australian Open complex. Please don’t shoot the messenger.

The Serb understands the consequences of his actions and doesn’t mind staying out of Roland Garros or Wimbledon. “It’s the price I’m willing to pay.” “Why?” asked the reporter, in disbelief like the rest of us.

And when what is considered good individually is harmful to the collective good? The tennis player turned away from the question: “I hope you respect what I chose”. It follows that he only thinks of himself.

But if you’re an individualist, why don’t you get the vaccine, become the biggest winner of Grand Slams and don’t let the world’s number one spot slip away? Because, from the tone of the answers, he prefers a risky gamble. At 34, he hopes to play for a long time because he takes care of his body and that the rules change so that the unimmunized can travel. He’s isolated. He is the only one in the top 100 who has not been vaccinated, according to the ATP.

As he tested positive twice without severity, he trusts what he felt and not the fact that the virus is a lottery. The stain on his reputation doesn’t seem to affect him, as he uses to the extreme the same confidence necessary to reach the top of his career in the name of a conviction that says he doesn’t expect people to understand.

It’s the price you’re willing to pay, even if it’s too high. Djokovic became his worst rival.