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.
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