Novak Djokovic took to social media to express his grief and extend his condolences following the unfortunate passing away of tennis journalist Mike Dickinson. It raised a few eyebrows given the fact that Dickinson had been a stark critic of the Serbian for his stance on not wanting to get vaccinated. Many saw this act of Djokovic compartmentalizing and extending his condolences even to his late critic as a show of great character. but as every coin as two sides, this too had a flip side with others insisting that this act does not make Djokovic a “better person”.
Novak Djokovic has started off his Australian Open with good support from the crowd, for the most part. As many would have expected, he has made the second week of the Grand Slam without any major hiccups apart from a fairly challenging first round match against Dino Pizmic. He is the defending champion and the favorite to lift the title yet again. But things weren’t going so smoothly just a few years back, in 2022 when the Serbian was barred from competing at his most successful Grand Slam.
Opting not to get vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus, the Australian government, after a poorly handled and managed situation, had deported Novak Djokovic. During this time, the tennis fraternity was split in the middle with one half calling for Djokovic to be allowed to compete while the other half called him out for his stance on vaccination and his own conduct during the fiasco.
One amongst the critics of the Serbian was tennis media correspondent Mike Dickinson, who had expressed his unfiltered thoughts on the situation and the 24-time Major winner. The well-known journalist had reportedly labeled Djokovic ‘deplorable and a dangerous quack‘.
Unfortunately, Dickinson passed away recently and Novak Djokovic did not hesitate to extend his wishes to the family he left behind.
Naturally, many were quick to praise the Serbian for letting bygones be bygones and doing this. They showered Nole with love and respect and expressed their pride in considering such a nice human being as their idol.
Death may be inevitable and despite every single human knowing this, it is also one of the saddest things for a family to experience a death of one of their closed ones. in such a situation, previous arguments really have no place and Djokovic evidently feels the same too.
But keeping the same point in mind, there were those who believe that just because the defending champion extended his condolences it doesn’t make him a better person. they believe he is doing simply what any human would be expected to do.
Novak Djokovic- a polarizing human
As is often the case, anything to do with Novak Djokovic is a polarizing development. Be it his tennis exploits, his claim to the throne of being the greatest ever tennis player or even his acts and beliefs off the court, you are bound to find those who will passionately support and argue for and defend the Serbian and those who detract just as passionately.
The same was the case with this development.
Nole’s fans quickly jumped at the chance to celebrate this nice gesture of his. Many labeled him a class act and called him a GOAT on and off the court.
On the flip side, however, there were those who acknowledged this gesture by Nole but also suggested that this was the only courteous thing to do and that it does not make the Serbian a good person.
