Then there is everything he did during the time he thought he had been exposed to covid and ultimately, according to his account, tested positive, the covid diagnosis that allowed him to claim a vaccine exemption in the first place.
Five days or so in December scuttled his chances of winning a 10th Australian Open, an unparalleled feat, while the world witnessed what many of his critics describe as a reckless, selfish disregard for the health of others.
The story begins on December 14 when, according to a photograph, he attended a basketball game in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, with someone who would later test positive for covid. On December 16, according to an affidavit his lawyers filed in an Australian federal court after his first visa was cancelled, he underwent a PCR test that was returned positive that night at 8.
The next day, before receiving the result, he said, a rapid antigen test was done, which was negative. So he went to a junior tennis ceremony in Belgrade, where a photo shows him posing without a mask near some children.
Later that day, December 17, Djokovic says he found out about his positive PCR test result. But he did not proceed to put himself in isolation for 14 days, as required by the Serbian government. The next day, December 18, he did a journalistic interview and photo shoot at his tennis center in Belgrade. He later said that he knew he had covid, saying doing the interview had been an “error in judgment” but that he had felt “compelled” to do so.
The journalists involved say they were never told Djokovic had tested positive.
Of all his actions, which include a history of other dismissive attitudes towards the pandemic and sometimes petulant outbursts on the court, it seems that what put the world on edge for the tennis player’s moral compass was his behavior after receiving a positive test.
