Why Novak Djokovic fans had ugly fight with US journalist Christopher Clarey after Serb pulled out of US Open

American journalist Christopher Clarey, who has reported on the life and career of legendary tennis player Roger Federer and penned a book on him, had a raw encounter with fans of Novak Djokovic on Thursday (25) and they questioned his journalistic ethics.

It all happened hours after the Serb, considered one of the triumvirate apart from Federer and Rafael Nadal, announced that he would not be part of the upcoming US Open because he has not taken the Covid-19 vaccine. Following the announcement, Clarey took to social media to apparently taunt Djokovic, who has 21 Grand Slams.

The New York Times tennis correspondent wrote in a tweet, "Waiting for the #letnovakplayaustralia hashtag" to apparently take a dig at Djokovic's fans ahead of the Grand Slam tournament kicking off on Monday (22).

It may be recalled here that in January this year, Djokovic went to Down Under for playing the Australian Open but was denied entry into the country after spending nine hours at the airport since he didn't take the vaccine. His visa was also cancelled since it was not one that allowed medical exemptions. He was moved to quarantine in hotel thereafter.

World No 1 Djokovic flew to Australia with a 'vaccine exemption' and arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday, January 5, but was denied entry into the country after nine hours at the airport. The Serb's visa was cancelled due to it not being one that allows for medical exemptions, after which he was moved to hotel quarantine as his team launched an appeal. There were legal troubles following it and Djokovic had to leave Australia eventually without playing in the tournament. He was also banned from entering Australia for three years. The incident even saw a diplomatic row between Australia and Serbia.

Like last time, Djokovic's fans continued to support him and tried to create pressure on the organisers of the US Open to change the rules for the ace player by using #LetNovakPlay on social media.

After Clarey posted his tweet, Djokovic's fans were not impressed and hit out at him saying his post was in bad taste. Some even dragged the name of Federer into the fiasco since Clarey's Twitter picture shows his book with the Swiss star's image on it.

Here are some reactions that Clarey's tweet on Djokovic received:

Clarey later made another tweet in which he picked up a line praising Djokovic's unrelenting stance on remaining unvaccinated from his piece published in The New York Times on Thursday (25), that said, "Whatever one’s view of Djokovic’s stance, he has stuck to his principles at considerable cost to himself and his sport, which has often been deprived of one of its biggest stars."