Djokovic may dump tennis over compulsory vaccination talks

Novak Djokovic is worried that his stance over a potential coronavirus vaccination could signal the end of his record-breaking tennis career.

The ongoing pandemic has already taken thousands of lives across the globe, leaving the return of professional sport in limbo with focus placed on the safety of athletes, staff and spectators.

There have been growing hopes in recent weeks that a vaccine would allow life to get back to relative normality later this year, but that is something that has evoked mixed emotions from the Serbian.

“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,” he said in a live Facebook chat 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.”

Djokovic has won five of the last seven Grand Slam finals on his way to 17 major titles, sitting just three behind Roger Federer’s all time record of 20.

The Serbian had received praise last week for trying to put together a fund to help lower-ranked players receive income, with both Federer and Rafael Nadal also involved.

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Djokovic is however not the only one suspicious of the vaccine talk a cross section of Africans have already vowed to resist any attempt to force them to take any vaccine at a time when it has become difficult to trust some govts, vaccinators and their intensions.