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Tennis star Novak Djokovic’s decision not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine transformed him into “a villain of the world,” he said in “Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter,” an Amazon Prime documentary released Thursday.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion revisited the controversy in the film, which examines his career, his personality and some of the most contentious moments of his life in tennis.
“I was made [a] villain more than I ever have been before in tennis circles,” Djokovic said. “Now I was a villain of the world.”
It began in 2022, when Djokovic traveled to Australia to compete in the Australian Open, but was deported on the eve of the event.
Djokovic missed other tournaments — including the 2022 U.S. Open and Masters events. He also became the subject of intense media criticism and, later, of scrutiny from Moderna.
Djokovic said his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19 was not about opposition to vaccines.
“I never said I’m against vaccine or pro-vaccine,” Djokovic said. “I am pro-freedom to choose what you are going to do with the integrity of your body.”
‘I was not vaccinated, but I had corona’
In January 2022, Djokovic traveled to Australia for the Australian Open after receiving a medical exemption from the tournament’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
In the film, Djokovic said he believed he had met Australia’s requirements because he had recently recovered from COVID-19.
“In order to travel to Australia, you either had to be vaccinated or, if you were not vaccinated, you had to give evidence that you had corona in the previous six months,” he said. “I was not vaccinated, but I had corona twice in those six months, so I was eligible.”
After receiving the exemption, Djokovic announced his trip on Instagram, writing, “I’m heading Down Under with an exemption permission.”
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His wife, Jelena, urged him not to publicize the exemption, but Djokovic insisted.
“He said it out loud,” she said in the film. “They wanted everybody to comply. The moment you have one guy who is going against the current, that’s bad for everyone.”
Djokovic said the circumstances surrounding his trip are still largely misunderstood.
“99% of people don’t know what actually happened. … They think that I was deported from Australia because I was not vaccinated, and that’s not true,” he said.
His arrival nevertheless triggered an international backlash.
Australia had experienced “harder and longer lockdowns than just about anywhere in the world,” sports journalist Matthew Futterman said in the film.
“There was the perception, rightly or wrongly, that he’d been given favorable treatment,” Australian journalist Scott Spits said. “That he was being given an opportunity to enter the country under conditions where other people weren’t given that chance.”
Djokovic became “a villain” and “a target,” Spits said.
Media coverage reflected the intensity of the criticism.
The Wall Street Journal described Djokovic as being thrust “to the center of debate over Covid-19 vaccine mandates.” The New York Times said he was “a Master on the Court” who “Keeps Making Errors Off It” in debates over “science versus quackery.”
A clip included in the documentary shows CNN commentator Bob Costas accusing Djokovic of a “continued pattern of evasions of the truth and contempt for the rules that apply to everyone else.”
Former Australian Labor senator Stephen Conroy called him “a pampered, entitled sports star who thinks he can game the system.”
Djokovic was detained immediately upon landing in Australia, and ultimately deported.
But the repercussions didn’t end there.
‘Freedom to choose, was taken away from a lot of people’
In February 2022, the BBC asked Djokovic whether he was prepared to sacrifice his chance of becoming statistically the greatest tennis player ever rather than receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Djokovic said he was, “because the principles of decision-making on my body are more important than any title.”
His position meant missing major tournaments while COVID-19 mandates, including rules for unvaccinated foreign travelers, remained in place.
The 2022 U.S. Open presented a particularly stark example of the controversy. Djokovic was barred from competing, while fans were permitted to attend the tournament without proof of vaccination.
A July 2022 Newsweek opinion piece highlighted the disparity:
“Spectators are allowed to attend the Open regardless of their vaccination status. … But the world’s greatest tennis star will not be able to set foot in the country.”
For Djokovic, the issue was not simply whether he would lose opportunities to compete.
“Why should I get a vaccine?” he asked in the documentary. “I’m healthy. I’m an athlete. I had corona. I have protection. I’m not a threat to anybody. Why should I get vaccinated?”
“It’s my freedom to choose,” he said. “That fundamental right that you have as a human being on this planet, freedom to choose, was taken away from a lot of people.”
Director Jason Hehir told Town & Country that Djokovic’s position was consistent with the extreme control he exercises over his physical and mental wellness.
“He is meticulous about every single drop of anything that goes into his body,” Hehir said. “I’ve seen it with his dietary habits and the discipline he has in both his mental and physical preparation. This is a guy who has gotten to where he is because he is in complete control of his mind and body. So I understand why he came down on that the way he did.”
‘I stood up for … what I think is best for my body’
Djokovic has also pushed back against being cast as a leader of the anti-vaccine movement.
“I’ve never associated myself with any anti-vax, pro-vax or anything,” he said. “I stood up for what I believe in. I stand for protection of my integrity and what I think is best for my body, and that’s it.”
His former coach, Goran Ivanisevic, defended Djokovic for holding his ground.
“The world condemned him, criticized him relentlessly, even belittled him for standing firm,” Ivanisevic said in 2025. “Yet he never wavered, standing firm in his conviction with a determination that still resonates.”
Ivanisevic suggested that subsequent developments may have changed how people view Djokovic’s position on the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Now we are talking about those vaccines, and they say that some of them caused problems,” Ivanisevic said. “We were locked up like sheep for three years, and we were manipulated.”
Djokovic’s decision not to receive the vaccine also attracted attention from Moderna, according to the New York Post.
In 2023, independent journalists Lee Fang and Jack Poulson reported on internal Moderna documents detailing the company’s monitoring of vaccine-related online discussions. One report was titled “Djokovic Crowned Anti-vaccine Hero after US Open Win.”
According to the report, Moderna was concerned that Djokovic’s victory at the Moderna-sponsored U.S. Open in 2023 could bolster arguments that vaccines and vaccine mandates were unnecessary.
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‘It was all political. It had nothing to do with medical’
In the film, Djokovic maintains that what occurred in Australia has been widely misunderstood.
“I still feel a slight bitterness that most of the people don’t understand what happened,” he said.
He acknowledged the pressure Australian officials faced in light of the country’s strict lockdowns, but rejected the idea that he was responsible for the political fallout.
“I do understand that they felt that pressure, but it was not my fault,” he said.
Djokovic said he later learned that another player and a coach had been allowed to enter Australia under the same type of medical exemption.
“It was all political,” he said. “It had nothing to do with medical; it has nothing to do with anything, it was just political.”
Hehir told Town & Country that he initially assumed Djokovic had been deported because he refused vaccination. Now, he understands that it is far more complicated.
Hehir said:
“To his credit and in his defense, and I disagree with him about the vaccine issue, but … he said, ‘I missed Grand Slams. I didn’t come to the States because they required that. That’s fine. Those were the rules.’
“In this case, they invited him to come. And only when it became a huge topic of conversation in the news did they then decide, ‘You know what? You can’t come anymore.’ Even though he satisfied their requirements for the exemption.”
More than four years after the Australian controversy, Djokovic stands by his decision to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine, even though it meant missing some of his sport’s biggest tournaments and enduring years of criticism.
“There is no stronger feeling in life than freedom,” Djokovic said in the film.
Related articles in The Defender
- Australia Revokes Djokovic’s Visa Again, Refuses to Acknowledge Natural Immunity
- A Year After Being Deported, Novak Djokovic Makes History Winning Australian Open as Bill Gates Looks On
- 21-Time Grand Slam Tennis Champ Likely to Miss U.S. Tournaments After Biden Extends ‘Senseless’ COVID Travel Restrictions
- ‘I’m Not Vaccinated and I’m Not Planning to Get Vaccinated,’ Tennis Champion Says as US Open Tournament Nears
- Moderna’s ‘Disinformation Department’ Monitors 150 Million Websites for ‘Anti-Vaccine’ Narratives
