Novak Djokovic On Serbian Team For ATP Cup; Australian Open A Go?

by Staff | December 7th, 2021, 1:50 pm
  • 11 Comments

The ATP released the country rosters for next month’s ATP Cup and Novak Djokovic headlined the list.

The World No. 1 has been outspoken about not getting vaccinated against COVID-19. But the Australian government requires it from players, so how can Djokovic play the ATP Cup in Sydney?

Either he’s already received a special exemption, or he’s been or going to be vaccinated, or he was put on the team list and he just hasn’t withdrawn.


The Australian Open entry deadline came and went yesterday with no news from the tournament or Djokovic. Bianca Andreescu did withdraw, but the tournament has yet to release the official list, perhaps pending Djokovic’s decision.

The good news is Djokovic is on the ATP Cup list as opposed to not being on it which would have signaled a stronger intent that he wasn’t going to Australia.

Last week, Djokovic wouldn’t say when he would make the decision. “I cannot give you any date,” Djokovic said Saturday. “Obviously Australia is around the corner, so you will know very soon.”


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11 Comments for Novak Djokovic On Serbian Team For ATP Cup; Australian Open A Go?

Wog Boy Says:

“ The World No. 1 has been outspoken about not getting vaccinated against COVID-19.”

That’s not quite truthful, only thing he said is that he is not hoing to reveal his status and keep it private until time comes to be revealed, like a few other top players.

Be patient Staff, ATP Cup starts on January the 1st, very soon, if he comes to Sydney and goes to quarantine that means that he was granted exemption by Australian medical officials, if he comes to Sydney without quarantine, that means that he is vaccinated, last option is that if he doesn’t turn up in Sydney he told them to FO and that would be the option that I wouldn’t blame him for, particularly after unprecedented attacks on him by Aussie politicians and media.


Wog Boy Says:

Small correction, in either case, if he is vaccinated or is given medical exemption, he doesn’t have to do two weeks mandatory quarantine.
Since he is arriving in Sydney, Nole doesn’t need approval of Chairman Dan (different state), but NSW authority can apply for medical exemption and if that’s the case and Nole is given one, Chairman Dan can’t do a thing about it nor he can stop Nole to play in Melbourne.
But as I said, wait another week or so and we’ll find out, though I think that Nole is vaccinated or at least is having valid certification…like quite a few players will have😉


Ekicovic Says:

Wong Boy,

I agree with you.

Besides, 30 per cent of the vaccines given are placebo. Did you know that?


Wog Boy Says:

Ekicovic,
Yes, I heard about that and those GPs even have their nick name, I am not going to say it, what happens in GP office stays in GP office. 😉


Czarlazar Says:

There is no way in hell that Novak would submit to the experimental shots. Not only because they’re useless and risky but it’d make him look ridiculous after holding the line for so long. He is a proud man who is not going down on his knees for anyone, least of all the cocaine-snorting twit, Dan Andrews. Djokovic no doubt got a medical exemption, which is only fair considering he has natural immunity from a previous infection. So if in fact the radical pro-vaxxer Aussies accept his exemption, the tournament should be a hum-dinger, with a 21st grand slam a distinct possibility (perhaps even a probability, though breaking the tie will be the toughest slam of all to achieve).


chrisford1 Says:

ekivoc – NO, unless you are in some 3rd world country selling vaxx by the dose and stretching it to make more money by watering down the dose or substituting saline.
Czarlazar – IT’s getting pretty simple. Studies are showing the rate of Unvaccinated people in the US getting Covid, THEN being very sick is vastly worse than the vaccinated people. That is 26 times the hospitalization rate, 25 times the number crippled by “long haul” mental and physical effects of Covid, and 20 times more likely to die.
The mRNA vaccines have been studied for over 20 years and were already in limited use for other diseases when Covid came along as an ideal candidate. No longer experimental.
I don’t know if the Balkans or other places in Europe use less effective Sputnik V or Sinovac. It it a problem with vaccines the West generally does not use?


Czarlazar Says:

chrisford1: you are brainwashed and living in delusional fear of a virus that’s no more dangerous than influenza. The average age of covid death in Canada is 84, with about 3 co-morbidities. Probably similar in most ‘developed’ countries. Taking an experimental drug to treat a low-mortality disease is completely unnecessary for anyone under 70 and healthy, unless you’ve succumbed to the non-stop government/media fear campaign. Furthermore, the shots have failed to stop infection or transmission and the countries with the biggest spikes in cases have the highest vaccination rates. The vaccines have failed, but at great cost to basic freedoms, social cohesion, mental health, deferred surgeries, foregone heart/cancer screening, suicides, drug overdoses, divorces/spousal abuse, childrens’ development, etc. etc. I’ve always liked your tennis commentary but your covid screed is pathetic, inaccurate and boring. As for Novak, there’s no damn way he’s taking the shot after holding out this long and I say good on him for standing up to the despotic little maniacs running Australia.


Tennispompom Says:

If Djokovic took a vaccine, it’s probably not mRNA or Adenovirus Vector. Since 22 November, UK, EU, US and lots of other countries including Australia, are now accepting Sinovac, Sinopharm and there’s a 3rd one from India.
Sinopharm is the most likely, as it’s available in Serbia. These Inactivated whole virus vaccines, especially Sinopharm, have minimal side effects, just like flu jab. Sinopharm is over 80% effective, better than any Adenovirus Vector, longer lasting than mRNA, Sinovac is only about 65%, and all of them are good for variants, as they’re not designed to only fight S-protein, but fight the whole virus, N protein, other surface proteins, even the nucleocapsid.

But Noavk probably doesn’t care much about efficacy, he’s got natural immunity anyway. He’s probably more concerned about vaccine safety.


chrisford1 Says:

Tennispompom,
I appreciate your update on the vaccines Europeans are now deploying.
And their effectiveness rates.
On natural immunity, I would caution. In the UK, when Delta swept through, it was reinfecting people who had gotten Covid the Wuhan Lab Original…and the Brits were surprised, as vaccinated were mostly resisting becoming seriously sick with Delta.
In one of those – I can’t believe that advised us moments everyone has, not just the anti-vaxxers – they had never bothered to determine natural immunity acquisition and persistance. And how it may vary with – you guessed – variants! It turned out 40% of patients that were sick with Covid got zero to 80% of the immunity 95% of the mRNA patients got. 10% got roughly the same, 50% got more than the mRNA vaccines.
So, in short, don’t count on natural immunity unless you have antigens checked and I understand in some nations like the US you have to pay for your own test. And the way the passport system is set up, they SHOULD include natural immunity if it is medically established – but they haven’t built that into any nation or regions’s Covid passport platforms.

CzarLazar – We simply hold different opinions on a polarizing issue.


Czarlazar Says:

Chrisford: I’m not holding an ‘opinion’ on a polarizing issue, rather I’m accepting the reams of studies that buttress my understanding of covid while you appear to be gripped by fear of a low-lethality virus that’s only a risk to the very elderly, the unhealthy and the obese. You cite absurd statistics with no attribution, the latest claiming natural immunity provides less protection against variants than mRNA shots — when in fact the reverse is true. The reason for the failure of mass vaccination with the experimental shots is because they’re largely useless against variants, first Delta and now Omicron — unlike robust & versatile B and T Cell immunity conferred by recovery from infection.
As became very noticeable with Delta, the virus constantly mutates in such a way that the spike protein —- which the antibodies from the experimental vaccine are directed against -— are no longer effective at binding and destroying the virus, and the virus escapes immune surveillance. The good news is each variant is more infectious and less lethal than the preceding one, meaning more of the population will be exposed to covid and recover, and herd immunity will finally arrive after being delayed unnecessarily by the counterproductive mass vaxx campaign. Then we can all get back to normal lives, including enjoying tennis tournaments unencumbered by interference from donor-owned politicians pushing the agendas of their financial backers.


Czarlazar Says:

Tennispompom: your analysis is informed and on the mark. I agree that Sinopharm is probably a good option were Novak to fold and submit to a vaccine. However, it contains an adjuvant in the form of aluminum hydroxide. Adjuvants help strengthen the body’s immune response to vaccines and though aluminum hydroxide has been used safely in vaccines for 70+ years, I’d be surprised if Nole would cross that line. He’s intelligent and has deeply held views on the matter and my guess is he’ll receive an exemption to play. Either way, with he and most of the rest of the elite players participating, this promises to be a humdinger of a tournament!

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