Novak Djokovic’s wife bites back at claims Wimbledon winner is ‘anti-vax poster boy’

Novak Djokovic’s wife Jelena has bitten back at claims which label the Wimbledon champion as an anti-vax poster boy. Djokovic lifted his 21st Grand Slam trophy on Sunday as he overcame Nick Kyrgios in four sets to win the Wimbledon title.

Djokovic was at the centre of a media frenzy at the start of the year when he was banned from the Australian Open and deported from Down Under after issues relating to his COVID-19 vaccination status. The Serbian has refused to protect himself against the virus and is now set to miss the US Open later this year due to COVID-19 restrictions in the United States.

Following Djokovic’s success at the All England Club, No Challenges Remaining podcast host Ben Rothenberg took to Twitter to post an update on the 35-year-old’s potential tennis schedule.

“Unless there is a swift change in US immigration law, #Wimbledon will be Djokovic’s last Grand Slam event of the year,” Rothenberg wrote. “US requires vaccination for foreigners to enter, and Djokovic has firmly said he has ruled out getting vaccinated, entrenching himself as an anti-vax posterboy.”

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Djokovic was on the receiving end of a serving masterclass from Kyrgios during the first set of Sunday’s encounter as the Serbian went one set behind. But the veteran secured an early break in the second set as he went on to level the scores at one set apiece. And Djokovic battled hard to win the third set before claiming victory after a fourth set tiebreak.

Djokovic’s victory means he is now just one Grand Slam title behind his long-term rival Rafael Nadal, who became the most successful men’s player of all time by winning the Australian Open and French Open earlier this year. But Djokovic appeared resigned to the fact he would miss the US Open as he spoke to reporters following his victory at SW19.

“I’m not vaccinated and I’m not planning to get vaccinated so the only good news I can have is them removing the mandated green vaccine card or whatever you call it to enter United States or exemption,” Djokovic said. “I don’t know. I don’t think exemption is realistically possible. If that is possibility, I don’t know what exemption would be about. I don’t know. I don’t have much answers there.”