Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Novak Djokovic started the 2020 season with victory at the Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic started the 2020 season with victory at the Australian Open. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images
Novak Djokovic started the 2020 season with victory at the Australian Open. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images

Novak Djokovic's anti-vaccination stance may stop his return to tennis

This article is more than 3 years old
  • Covid-19 vaccination seen as crucial for return of sport
  • ‘Personally I am opposed to vaccination,’ says world No 1

Novak Djokovic says his opposition to vaccinations may get in the way of his return to competitive tennis.

“Personally I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel,” the world No 1 said in a live Facebook chat with several fellow Serbian athletes on Sunday. “But if it becomes compulsory, what will happen? I will have to make a decision.

“I have my own thoughts about the matter and whether those thoughts will change at some point, I don’t know.

“Hypothetically, if the season was to resume in July, August or September, though unlikely, I understand that a vaccine will become a requirement straight after we are out of strict quarantine and there is no vaccine yet.”

Last month the former world No 1 Amélie Mauresmo said the rest of the 2020 tennis season may be wiped out. She added that action should not resume until a vaccine is available for Covid-19, something that most scientists believe is at least a year away.

In a widely shared tweet the two-time grand slam title winner said: “International circuit = players of all nationalities plus management, spectators and people from the 4 corners of the world who bring these events to life. No vaccine = no tennis.”

Je crois qu’on va devoir tirer un trait sur la saison 2020 de tennis. Circuit international = des joueurs et joueuses de toutes nationalités plus les encadrements, spectateurs et les personnes venant des 4 coins du monde qui font vivre ces événements.
Pas de vaccin=pas de tennis

— AmelieMauresmo (@AmeMauresmo) March 31, 2020

The 2020 Wimbledon championships have been cancelled for the first time since the second world war while the French Open, originally due to start on 24 May, was rescheduled for the end of September, shortly after the end of the US Open.

Djokovic made a flying start to the 2020 season, winning the Australian Open in January for his 17th grand slam title and stretched his winning run to 18 matches before the pandemic brought sports events around the world to a halt.

Sign up to The Recap, our weekly email of editors’ picks.

So far the governing bodies of tennis have suspended all tournaments until 13 July. In addition the women’s Rogers Cup in Montreal, which had been due to be held in August, will not take place this year.

Most viewed

Most viewed