Journalist rips tennis legend Novak Djokovic as 'anti-vax posterboy' — then gets blasted right back by Djokovic's wife for 'hatred and bullying'



A tennis journalist ripped Novak Djokovic as an "anti-vax posterboy" soon after the superstar player captured his fourth-straight Wimbledon singles title Sunday — after which Djokovic's wife hopped on Twitter to defend her husband and blast Ben Rothenberg for "hatred and bullying."

What's the background?

Djokovic was deported from Australia earlier this year due to his unvaccinated status, ESPN said, preventing him from competing in the Australian Open, a tournament he's won a record nine times.

The Serbian player had been granted a vaccine exemption by Tennis Australia, the country's governing body for the sport, and the the Victoria state government also approved his exemption. But the national government and the Australian Border Force overruled Djokovic's exemption and refused to sponsor his visa — and he was stopped at the Australian border and held in a room guarded by police after landing in Melbourne.

Following his Wimbledon victory Sunday, Djokovic said he won't get the COVID-19 vaccination that will allow him to enter the U.S. and play in the U.S. Open tournament, scheduled to begin at the end of August.

"I'm not vaccinated, and I'm not planning to get vaccinated, so the only good news I can have is them removing the mandated green vaccine card or whatever you call it to enter United States or exemption," Djokovic said, according to ESPN. "I don't know. I don't think exemption is realistically possible. If that is possibility, I don't know what exemption would be about. I don't know. I don't have much answers there."

'Anti-vax posterboy'

With that, Rothenberg — senior editor of Racquet magazine — called Djokovic an "anti-vax posterboy."

\u201cUnless there is a swift change in US immigration law, #Wimbledon will be Djokovic\u2019s last Grand Slam event of the year.\n\nUS requires vaccination for foreigners to enter, and Djokovic has firmly said he has ruled out getting vaccinated, entrenching himself as an anti-vax posterboy.\u201d
— Ben Rothenberg (@Ben Rothenberg) 1657471718

"Unless there is a swift change in US immigration law, #Wimbledon will be Djokovic’s last Grand Slam event of the year," Rothenberg tweeted. "US requires vaccination for foreigners to enter, and Djokovic has firmly said he has ruled out getting vaccinated, entrenching himself as an anti-vax posterboy."

Uh-oh

Well, Djokovic's wife didn't take kindly to the slight and hopped on Twitter to hit back at Rothenberg.

"Excuse me," Jelena Djokovic told the journalist. "Just making sure that it is noted that YOU tagged him as antivax poster boy for whatever reason you have. He simply responded [to] what HIS body choice is."

A few minutes later, Rothenberg tried to explain himself: "I understand that it's his choice, but I also am saying that his decision to be so firmly against the vaccines that it limits his ability to play tournaments has made him, unwittingly or not, into a huge icon of the anti-vax movement. I saw this very clearly during Australia."

Mrs. Djokovic wasn't buying it: "You are creating a very judgmental narrative that fits your agenda. He is simply choosing what’s best for his body. If he is not playing because of making that choice, he is fine with it."

"I can accept judgmental," Rothenberg replied. "I believe every citizen, especially public figures, had a duty to act responsibly with public health actions and messaging during the pandemic, and as someone who has covered Novak as the influential champion he is, he repeatedly disappointed me deeply."

Jelena Djokovic finished up things by calling out Rothenberg with sarcasm: "Thank you for sharing your beliefs. I hope you don’t get judged for them. Or become a poster boy for hatred and bullying. You never know. You are also influential figure, please don’t continuously disappoint. Unless that’s your role."

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Tennis legend Boris Becker says player's fiancee is 'very pretty' — and is accused of 'objectification of women'



Tennis legend Boris Becker stands accused of "objectification of women" after calling a player's fiancee "very pretty" during his BBC commentary on a Wimbledon quarterfinals match Wednesday.

What are the details?

During the contest, in which top-seeded Novak Djokovic beat 48th-ranked Marton Fucsovics in straight sets, a camera trained on Fucsovics' fiancee in the stands — and main commentator John Inverdale didn't let the moment pass.

Image source: Independent UK video screenshot

"That's Fuscovics' fiancee. Her name is Anett Boszormenyi," he said before cracking an old joke. "If you're a tennis player, always good to have a partner called Anett."

With that Becker added, "They do say they have the most beautiful women in Hungary. I wouldn't know that, but she's certainly very pretty."

'Objectification of women'

Stephanie Hilborne — chief executive of Women in Sport — was among a number of individuals and diversity-oriented groups to accuse Becker of "objectification," the Telegraph reported.

"The charity Women in Sport has worked for decades to change sporting culture including to end the objectification of women," Hilborne told the Telegraph. "When two men are comfortable talking about women in this way, never mind on live TV, it shows there is still more to do. We need everyone to understand how this impacts on women and girls, how it makes them feel. Shouldn't we be inspiring the next generation of girls to play sport rather than talking about what women look like?"

The outlet added that Flo Williams — a Wales international rugby player who founded the Perception Agency — said that "it's changing room chat rather than commentary chat. Straightaway it shows that commentary around women in sport can be so much around what they look like, whether they are playing or not."

What did the BBC have to say?

The Telegraph said the BBC declined to issue criticism but did say that "Boris Becker made a lighthearted comment that was not intended to cause offense."

Anything else?

The outlet added that Inverdale once got in trouble for criticizing the looks of former women's tennis player Marion Bartoli and "caused alarm" in 2016 after likening Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios to a "character from the Jungle Book."

Here's more on Becker from the Telegraph:

Twice-married Becker became Wimbledon champion at 17 — but is also famed for his girlfriends, his celebrity lifestyle, his love child, and a bankruptcy ruling. "I've lived a pretty intense life," he said in a 2017 interview. "Do I go borderline, sometimes over the border? Of course. Otherwise I wouldn't have won Wimbledon at 17. I wouldn't have become No. 1 in the world. I wouldn't have done what I have done if that wasn't part of my personality. And that means I take chances. I take chances because this is who I am."