'Would have broken many athletes,' Ex-Australian player Paul McNamee lauds Novak Djokovic’s mental resilience after vaccination saga

Djokovic was ready to miss Grand Slam tournaments instead of taking injections, and as a consequence, he missed the 2022 US Open, as the government there had also made the vaccines mandatory. 

Then in 2023, despite going through everything, he made a terrific comeback and went on to clinch the Australian Open, French Open, and the US Open, reached the Wimbledon final, becoming the No.1 player once again. McNamee claimed that if another player went through such a phase, he wouldn’t have recovered from it. 

After all Novak Djokovic has been through, including in my country, which would have broken many athletes, let’s give credit where credit is due… being #1 turning 37 years of age is a remarkable achievement.  Paul McNamee wrote on X

Novak Djokovic is aiming for Olympic gold in Paris 

The only accolade that Novak Djokovic has not earned is the Olympic gold medal, though he won the bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Recently, during the Laureus World Sports Awards, where he won the Sportsman of the Year for the fifth time, the 24-time Grand Slam champion talked about his goal in 2024.

At the end of the day, who knows if I will get another chance to play at the Olympic Games? They only come every four years? I said recently that I really wanted to play at least until the L.A. Olympic Games [in 2028], but you never know, at this stage.  Novak Djokovic said 

Djokovic has not competed since he lost to Casper Ruud in the Monte Carlo Masters semifinals this year. After opting out of the Barcelona Open and Madrid Open, Djokovic has not spoken about when he will return to the court. Though he may return for the Rome Open, no one can doubt his playing at the upcoming French Open, starting May 20.