Rules For Thee: Djokovic Breaks All the Rules After Blasting Osaka for Skipping Media Duties

While Novak Djokovic receives praise from fellow male tennis pro Stefanos Tsitsipas for having the guts to “play by his own rules”, like breaking government health rules and lying on his travel papers, it’s hard to forget that the former criticized female tennis player Naomi Osaka for refusing to participate in pressers at the French Open.

A timeline of Novak Djokovic’s troublesome activities continues to unfold. The 34 year-old was first detained in Australia and had his visa canceled after attempting to enter the country to play in the Australian Open. He was then released from an immigration detention center and had his visa reinstated by a judge.

Now it has come to light that he lied when filling out his travel documents, claiming that he had not traveled prior to attempting to enter Australia although he had traveled to Spain despite being unvaccinated and broke his quarantine to do an interview with a journalist from L’Equipe, despite being aware that he was Covid-19 positive.

Djokovic earlier addressed the matter on Tuesday, noting that the travel declaration had been submitted by his support staff on his behalf. "My agent sincerely apologises for the administrative mistake in ticking the incorrect box about my previous travel before coming to Australia," the release read.

All the drama is due to the questionable legitimacy of his claim for a personal vaccine exemption.

While other players received vaccinations to compete in the Australian Open, Djokovic claimed a medical exemption. But Marton Fucsovics, Hungary’s top men’s player, maintained that Djokovic should not be allowed in Melbourne, offering that it is unfair that an unvaccinated Djokovic should play in the tournament.

“People’s health is paramount, and there are rules that were outlined months ago,” Fucsovics told M4Sport.

With all the media buzz surrounding the male tennis pro, it may be time to take a look at the criticism Djokovic dished out for the 24-year-old No. 1 female tennis player, Naomi Osaka.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Tennis - Women's Singles - Round 3 - Ariake Tennis Park - Tokyo, Japan - July 27, 2021. Naomi Osaka of Japan reacts during her third round match against Marketa Vondrousova of Czech Republic

© REUTERS / MIKE SEGAR

In May 2021, Osaka released a statement to social media informing fans and the press that she would not participate in news conferences at the French Open, for mental health reasons, a move that later saw her face fines from the sport's management for refusing to do so. The tennis pro said in a social media post, “I’m not going to subject myself to people that doubt me.”

In response to the uproar over Osaka’s press refusal, Djokovic criticized her saying, “[the press conference] is part of our sport, it is part of what we do, the media is important without a doubt. It allows us to have a platform to communicate with the fans, but in a more traditional way.”

For now, media and fans must wait for the Australian government to decide whether to boot Djokovic from the tournament and from the country. The Djokovic saga continues to unfold, and the Grand Slam champ’s visa and chance to play in the Australian Open hangs in limbo.