First things first. I am not a tennis fan. I don’t think I have seriously cared about the outcome of a tennis match since the late Arthur Ashe won Wimbledon in 1975.

Also, as a Baby Boomer at high risk (asthma), I have had both shots and the booster. I am currently in semi-lockdown. I wear a mask when shopping and in jammed public places. I’m one of those folks in the middle — pro-vaccine, but anti-government mandate. What about religious exemptions? As I have written here at GetReligion, that would be a complex U.S. Supreme Court case.

This brings me to the Novak Djokovic drama. I vaguely knew that he was one of the world’s top tennis players, but knew nothing about his unique — bizarre, even — beliefs about a host of medical issues.

Then I saw an image that hit home for me, as an Eastern Orthodox Christian believer. It showed Djokovic doing what Orthodox parents do — helping his young son light prayer candles and venerate icons.

What follows in this post has nothing to do with whether readers think Djokovic is right or wrong, a liar or a Serbian hero, a lunatic or a misunderstood believer, of some kind of another. What I am doing here is asking a journalism question about mainstream coverage of this battle in the wider COVID-19 wars. I read the New York Times, of course, so that was where I immediately went for information.

The question: How could journalists try to tell the story of Djokovic and his opposition to COVID-19 vaccines without digging into his complex and, it seems to me, confusing set of Orthodox and unorthodox religious beliefs? Isn’t that a crucial and factual element of this story?

I am aware, of course, that anti-vaccine sentiment is present in some Orthodox circles — such as Serbia — but certainly not all (my own bishop has been very careful during the pandemic). I do know quite a few Orthodox believers who have had COVID-19 and would like to be given some kind of card showing that tests indicate they have antibodies.

Anyway, I started reading Times stories, such as: “Djokovic Collides With a Difficult Moment in Australia’s Covid Fight” and “At an Australian Hotel, Djokovic Is Not the Only Cause of Controversy.”

Frustrated, I did a Google News search for “Djokovic, Orthodox” and found this Associated Press story: “ 'I can feel it': Djokovic sends thanks for the support.” It focused on the fact that the tennis superstar is part of an old-calendar Orthodox flock that celebrates Christmas on Jan. 7th. The AP story noted:

A priest from the Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church in Melbourne asked to visit the nine-time Australian Open champion to celebrate Orthodox Christmas but was turned down by immigration officials because the hotel is under lockdown.

Back to America’s most influential newspaper. If you want to know the lens through which the Times saw this story, check this out: “Novak Djokovic, a Master on the Court, Keeps Making Errors Off It.” The key: This is all (wait for it) about politics and Serbian nationalism. There was a reference to Djokovic being a “spiritual dabbler, with a weakness for what some regard as quackery.” Here is the crucial summary material:

Back in Serbia, … Djokovic is seen as a victim who is being victimized because he is Serbian. “They are stomping all over Novak to stomp all over Serbia and Serbian people,” Djokovic’s father, Srdjan, told reporters. The Serbian foreign ministry put out a statement saying that the Serbian public “has a strong impression” that Djokovic was “lured to travel to Australia in order to be humiliated” and that it was feeling “understandable indignation.” …

Djokovic has made comments over the years that suggested he was at least sympathetic to Serbian nationalism. In a speech in 2008, he said that Kosovo belonged to Serbia after it declared independence. On the other hand, he’s coached by a Croat, the former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, and is seen by many in the Balkans as a conciliatory figure.

If you want more on that political theme, see this Times piece: “Serbia’s Leader Denounces Australia’s Treatment of Djokovic as ‘Orwellian’.”

Once again, let me stress: In a way, I don’t care what readers think about Djokovic, the man or the tennis player. I am also not saying — let me stress this — that Orthodox believers would automatically approve of his, at times, strange combination of beliefs and religious practices.

What I am saying is that the religion angle, like it or not, is an important element of this global news story.

Also, I am not saying that it’s easy to describe this man’s beliefs in one or two sentences.

Thus, let’s turn to a report at The Daily Mail — again, religion is “conservative” news — topped by one of this newspaper’s massive read-out headlines: “From being 'opposed' to vaccinations and crying after surgery to super-strict gluten-free diet — and even a bit of sumo wrestling! Inside the very unique world of world No 1 Novak Djokovic after he said he did not want to be immunised against coronavirus.”

The key: This man is both Orthodox and unorthodox. Here is the overture:

Novak Djokovic is many things. He is a devout Christian, a meditator, a yoga-enthusiast, a father, a husband, president of the ATP Player Council, speaks five languages and he's incredibly spiritual.

And so the one thing the world No 1 could not be called is orthodox. 

His latest head-turning comments came regarding vaccinations and namely immunising professional players to speed up the return to action. To many, that would seem totally logical and rational, once a vaccination is developed and distributed. But not Djokovic. For many years he has been anti-medicine, anti-surgery and anti-vaccination and even a global pandemic has not altered his stance.

There’s a wide variety of information in this story about his beliefs on surgery, meditation, diet, healing, etc. As I said, much of this is rather puzzling from a “Big O” Eastern Orthodox point of view. It is clear, however, that his religious beliefs — backed with years of discipline and practice — were at the heart of the clash in Australia, where he wanted to defend his crown in that tournament.

Finally, there is this blunt summary of some facts:

A husband to Jelena and father to two children, son Stefan, aged five, and daughter Tara, aged two, Djokovic is a member of Serbian Orthodox Church and is often seen sporting a cross around his neck in matches.

Along with his incredibly strict diet, the world No 1 undertakes a lot of yoga and meditation — increasing his spirituality — with a key focus on pranayama exercises (breathing exercises).

EssentiallySports went on to report that he has used the Buddhist Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon around the SW19 Grand Slam each summer. And so his lifestyle choices are not orthodox, his views are often extreme, moralistic and difficult to comprehend but that is his nature.

My question, once again: Why ignore the religious elements — plural — of this story? What’s the journalism motive for that action?

FIRST IMAGE: From the Instagram account of Novak Djokovic.