Exclusive: Novak Djokovic is 'thick-skinned' and you can never write him off

Djokovic has overcome massive odds to become one of the world's greatest athletes in history, says Serbian sports writer Sasa Ozmo

Serbia is a proud sporting nation, with many elite athletes throughout its history – whose triumphs and defeats we get passionately involved in. Novak Djokovic is the greatest of them all, and one of the main symbols of Serbia to the outside world in the last 15 years, which is why people here have been furious with the way he has been (mis)treated in Australia.

And which is why he predominantly enjoys support in his home country.

As a sports journalist in Serbia, I have had a fruitful professional relationship with Djokovic for years now, so you can understand why the last couple of weeks have been emotional and exceptionally challenging professionally.

Back in 2015, I was an aspiring journalist covering my first Grand Slam tournament at the French Open in Paris. It was extremely important to prove my worth, so I had arranged a 10-minute interview with Djokovic via his agents.

And there I was sitting with him after his second-round match near the media room at the Philippe Chatrier stadium.

"You know, for me, this is like what playing a Grand Slam final is to you," I told Novak. He laughed: "Don’t you worry".

We ended up talking for 22 minutes.

Yes, Djokovic is honest, thoughtful and thorough with the media, but now is not the time to talk!

After he was made to leave Australia, Djokovic landed in Belgrade on Monday. He will not be making any public comments until the Australian Open is finished.

Probably for the better, because Novak right now needs to decompress, to quiet the storm of emotions and different feelings, and to contemplate on what his next move is going to be.

We now know that Djokovic is not vaccinated, which could pose serious problems for his career in the immediate future.

One thing, though, needs to be said first. We’re in the midst of a pandemic and the rules are changing every day – the latest information is that unvaccinated players won’t be able to play at Roland Garros, even though the French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu stated otherwise just a week ago.

Furthermore, with the omicron variant of the virus, vaccinated people appear to still have a significant chance of getting infected.

That being said, if things stay the way they are today, Djokovic is facing a choice: either get vaccinated or miss the biggest tournaments.

It is impossible to know for sure what the roots are of Novak’s decision to not get vaccinated. One can only speculate that it has something to do with Djokovic being a huge believer in nature and natural healing – he once postponed an elbow procedure for more than a year.