Tennis legend Novak Djokovic proved he’s the No. 1 player in the world by stoically shutting down a heckler who screamed that he should “Get vaccinated” by reflexively acing his opponent to win his match.
The incident unfolded Friday at the Australian Open as Djokovic faced off against Argentine star Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round.
Just as the 10-time Australian Open champion prepared to serve for match point, an unruly fan yelled from the stands, “Get vaccinated, mate!”
Djokovic stepped back for a few seconds before serving an ace to advance to the fourth round after defeating his opponent in straight sets.
Watching Novak Djokovic serve an Ace after being heckled by the crowd “GET VACCINATED” is incredibly satisfying.
Remember they wouldn’t let the GOAT & one of the fittest persons on the planet play tennis because he refused several doses of an experimental mRNA Gene Therapy for a… pic.twitter.com/2YqMPkTOi5
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) January 20, 2024
On Sunday, Djokovic advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in straight sets.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner has been hailed a hero by millions of fans for championing bodily autonomy by refusing to get vaccinated at the height of COVID-19 hysteria.
In 2022, Djokovic was deported from Australia for refusing to get jabbed. He returned to the tournament in 2023 to secure his 10th Australian Open title.
Do you believe receiving the COVID-19 vaccine should be a choice?
The Serbian superstar has talked about how difficult and lonely it was to stand by his principles and refuse to bend the knee to vaccine bullies.
“I had basically most of the world against me,” Djokovic said last month on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “I had that kind of experience on the tennis court with crowds that were not maybe cheering me on, but I never had this particular experience before in my life.”
The trailblazing sports icon said he’s not anti-vaccine, he’s just “pro-freedom to choose.”
Thanks to relentless media pressure and threats of getting fired or socially ostracized, more than 270 million Americans (or 81 percent of the population) have gotten the COVID-19 shots.
At the height of vaccine hysteria, in many places, you couldn’t go to a movie theater or a concert or eat at most restaurants unless you were vaccinated. And you had to show “vaccine passports” to gain entry.
All this sounds crazy in retrospect.
Many Americans now say they regret succumbing to mob bullying and getting jabbed amid concerns over the potential dangers of the vaccines.
Media mogul Dan Bongino said getting the coronavirus shot was “the biggest mistake of my life.”
“I should have waited. It’s one of the greatest regrets of my life,” he said in August 2022. “I freaked out.”
Bongino said he ended up getting COVID twice despite getting vaccinated twice.
Podcaster Megyn Kelly has expressed similar regrets.
“I’m sorry I did to myself,” she said in September. “I regret getting the vaccine. I don’t think I needed it. I think I would have been fine.”
A critical lesson to be gleaned from the tragic comedy of errors that was America’s pandemic response is that we must navigate such events without trampling everyone’s civil liberties and shutting down the entire country.
