“Djoko”, Mr Unbreakable
Weakened by an elbow injury, for many months he preferred to try – in vain – alternative solutions, convinced that the body has the ability to self-medicate, and refused any surgery. In the world of professional sport, where injuries are a constant threat, this is a very rare position. Perhaps this explains the extreme attention paid to a body that has been sanitised and ultimately calibrated to withstand almost anything.
Throughout his career, Djokovic has never suffered a lower body injury. His knees, ankles and feet have never forced him to miss a match, unlike his greatest rivals. And it was with a heavy heart and a guilt that lingered for several months that he decided to have elbow surgery in early 2018.Career over? No. Five years on, since the 2018 French Open, he has won eleven of the seventeen Slams he has played in. It has been a glorious march, despite the trials and tribulations that constantly presented themselves to him, forced or provoked, as if nothing could happen in his world in perpetual turmoil.
Not even Netflix could imagine a more extravagant saga. The disqualification at the 2020 US Open, when he accidentally hit with a stray ball one of the few people present on the immense and Covid empty Arthur-Ashe court; the denigration at Melbourne 2021 for his handling of the torn intercostal muscle, then again at Roland Garros, with its interruptions; the total collapse to tears in the US Open final, just one step away from the legendary Grand Slam, when he had just paraded in Tokyo, finally recognised as a universal champion by his peers. All this before his expulsion from Melbourne in January 2022. He, the unvaccinated player, was detained at the Park Hotel and considered a public menace by the authorities who doubted the validity of his visa and his exemption.
It was no longer about tennis, but about the story of a man who, after the Australian trauma, would rebuild himself even stronger, despite the passing of the years, determined not to fail in his principles. He lost a few tournaments and a Slam, but never vaccinated. Unwavering in his determination, even at the cost of appearing irresponsible, he prefers to preserve his impregnable citadel (his body) and his logic to his records, in the name of the same principles that have guided him from the beginning. Unreasonable? Perhaps. But that is his story.
