Djokovic breaks the silence: "I'm not against vaccination, but my body is more important than any title"

Tennis legend Novak Djokovic leaves today for Dubai to make his debut this season at the Open 500, has broken his silence for the BBC after his deportation in Australia.

The number one promised last week that he was going to speak within 10 days and has done so to express that he will not be vaccinated at the moment "although I have an open mind because we must find a solution to end Covid."

The Serbian has made it clear that he does not plan to be vaccinated against the coronavirus even if it costs him his career: “I am not against vaccination, but my body is more important than any title. It is the price I am willing to pay. I defend the freedom to put whatever I want on my body.”

Djokovic's position definitively distances him from the first two 1,000 Masters in Indian Wells and Miami, which are held from March 10 in the United States, a country that requires a complete vaccination schedule.

In this way, it is a matter of time before he gives up the ATP title in favor of Daniil Medvedev, who will have the first chance to pass it next week if he wins the title in Acapulco.

Novak, for his part, will start as early as March to prepare for the clay-court tour . His idea is for the town of Marbella to be his training base.

Right now, he could participate in Monte Carlo (10 to 17), the first date on the April calendar, because less than four months will have passed since his positive for coronavirus dated December 16 .

However, today he could not participate in Roland Garros, the second 'Grand Slam' of the season that begins on May 22 in Paris and where he defends the champion crown.

On his roadmap to the Gallic Open is the Belgrade Open 250, the Mutua Madrid Open and Rome. In the capital of Spain, it appears in the streets as one of the great attractions of the event that will celebrate its twentieth anniversary.

Djokovic puts in the background the race to be the best in history if that means getting the vaccine: "I hope to be able to play a few more years," he says. "But I try to be in harmony with my body”

The tennis player from Belgrade, who will turn 35 on May 22, confesses to being a lover of healthy living and all that it entails and considers that his diet and the sleep guidelines he follows have been key to his success.

Djokovic also dealt with speculation that a false positive in December allowed him to get a medical exemption to travel to Australia. "I understand that many talk about how lucky I was with the times. I do not feel lucky when I get infected by the coronavirus and it bothers me that it is said that it was manipulated. There are many people who have symptoms and it is happening all over the world ", He says.

Djokovic also referred in the interview to the way he left Melbourne after being detained twice by the local government: "I was very disappointed in the way things ended there. It was not easy at all to face that situation."

The tennis player wants to record that the only reason for his deportation was because "the Minister of Immigration (Alex Hawke) used his power to cancel my visa because, in his opinion, that it was going to create a feeling against vaccines in the country or in the city of Melbourne. And I don't agree with that at all."

Novak remarks that he was not deported "because he had not been vaccinated, skipped a rule or because of an error when completing the entry papers. The Federal State said that everything was fine."

The champion of 20 majors will train from tomorrow in Dubai with his sights set on a tournament that he has won five times, the last one in 2020. He will be the first favorite accompanied by three other 'top10' like Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jannik Sinner.

It should be remembered that the tennis player has taken over 80 percent of a company based in Denmark that investigates against Covid and possible alternative treatments to the vaccine . It is the only way that Nole has left to continue playing tennis.

Djokovic already gave clues at the start of the pandemic, in mid-April 2020, that he was not willing to be vaccinated to be a tennis player . He did it in a chat with other Serbian athletes through a video call. He entered from his confinement in Marbella.

"Personally I am against getting vaccinated and even more so if they force me to do so. I do not want to be told that I must do it to travel again. If the day comes when it is mandatory, I will have to make a decision about it," he warned.

Everyone except him with the vaccine

At present, Novak is the only racket professional who has not set any guidelines for the 'top100' , something that many of his teammates influenced as an argument for not playing the first major on the calendar as it was a deal different from others.

Djokovic's words, putting his tennis career at risk for not getting vaccinated, have reached the ears of his seven sponsors, who pay him to be a tennis player and expand his brand globally. It remains to be seen what decision they make regarding his contract.

Number one is the image of Lacoste (clothes), Peugeot (cars), Head (racquets), Asics (shoes), Hublot (watches), ÜKG (technology) and the Raiffeisen Bank (bank)