EVEN though he may still be world number one, tennis fans will perhaps never know whether Rafa Nadal's recent crown as the only man in the sport to win 21 singles Grand Slams could have gone to Novak Djoković instead.
Novak Djoković at Roland Garros in 2014. If he is not vaccinated, he may or may not be able to play at this venue in 2022, depending upon what the French government decides - but other global tournaments could be off-limits due to pandemic-related entry requirements
The Serbian 'top of the world' was absent from the recent Australian Open, as well as fellow 'Big Three' player, Switzerland's Roger Federer, but for very different reasons.
Whilst Federer missed out on the Melbourne event due to injury, Djoković was denied entry to the country due to not having been vaccinated against Covid.
It was his personal choice not to be jabbed, and he and his wife Jelena have publicly defended their 'right to decide' – but as his high-profile, headline-grabbing deportation has shown, not agreeing to be vaccinated could be seriously career-limiting for Djoković.
Like Federer, the brilliant Balkan currently holds 20 Grand Slam titles, and Rafa Nadal's triumph down under – only the second of his career – gave the Spaniard his 21st, but Djoković could be forgiven for suspecting that the honour of becoming the world's top man in tennis might have been his if only he had had his injection and been able to play.
None of the three greatest guys in the sport has yet reached the Grand Slam record of the all-girl history-making trio of Margaret Court, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf, with 24, 23 and 22 of these titles respectively, but Nadal is confident he will catch up with them one day as he has since publicly stated that '21 is not enough'.
And the gauntlet has been thrown down for Djoković, sparking rumours that he may have taken an abrupt U-turn over his anti-vax stance.
According to reports in the Spanish media, the Serb's biographer Daniel Müksch has let slip that Nadal's latest victory and new 'best man' status has 'very much affected' his biggest rival – or joint biggest rival, along with Federer – and that he is now seriously considering having the vaccine.
“From what I've been hearing from his closest circle, I believe he's getting himself vaccinated,” Müksch is quoted as saying.
“Perhaps the Australian final has contributed to that. It could be that Rafa Nadal's 21 Grand Slams have spurred him on to do it.”
For the sake of Djoković's career, fans of the sport hope Müksch is right.
In line with current international restrictions, the present world number one would only be able to compete at Wimbledon (UK) without a jab – and even then, he would have to get to London early and quarantine ahead of the tournament.
At first, France left the door open to Djoković's competing at the Paris Open in Roland Garros, but later changed its stance and said he needs to get vaccinated if he wants to compete – although the nation has had yet another rethink and more recently said it would change its procedures to allow him to play.
The USA has stated categorically that non-resident foreign nationals are not permitted entry to the country without a vaccine 'except in very specific circumstances', but these do not include participation in the US Open tennis tournament, nor even having had Covid in the past six months and therefore, in theory, enjoying some level of temporary immunity.
Meanwhile, Rafa Nadal has already announced plans to play in Acapulco (México) and do the rounds of the clay-court tour, and is expected to compete in the US Open in September – and, of course, his star tournament, at Roland Garros, where he has won 13 times.
This makes Nadal the player with the most wins at the Paris venue in the entire Open era and the most in singles in history, but if he nets another two Roland Garros titles, he will be the player with the most tournament victories there outright, in all time.
At present, the most Roland Garros victories in all history is 14, held by France's Max Decugis, with 13 on the trot from 1902 to 1914 and another in 1920 – but six of these were in doubles.
It seems unlikely Djoković will want to miss out on any of these, and unless various international governments make an exception for élite sportspersons and he is willing to observe quarantine ahead of every major date, this could well be the case for him.
And Djoković will probably not want to jeopardise his world number one position, given that Rafa Nadal has held it several times in the past – in three different decades, in fact – and especially as Nadal's Australian Open rival, Daniil Medvedev, appears to be on a roll and could be a strong candidate for pinching the Serb's throne.
Djoković's followers, and those of his key rivals, are now waiting eagerly to see whether Müksch's alleged words are confirmed as true and, if so, whether Djoković does, in fact, intend to do as his biographer is reported to have predicted.
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