“Australian Open: three players give up for respiratory problems: Georgian Nikolos Basilashvili (n° 22), Slovenian player Dalila Jakupovic (n° 180) as well as Australian Nick Kyrgios (n° 93)”, announce several widely shared posts on social media. Internet users who share the message make a link with the vaccination against Covid-19: “Experimental forced injection Australian Open: three players give up for respiratory problems”, specify several posts in the comments.
Viral publications opposed to vaccination that echo the Novak Djokovic case. The Serbian player, world number one, is not vaccinated and was therefore denied access to the tennis tournament after a series of several days. Several other athletes have already been singled out for health problems. Some vaccine critics had previously linked it to the sting, erroneously, as in the case of soccer player Sergio Agüero.
FAKE OFF
Unlike other fake news – for which it is necessary to check the medical history or the vaccination status – the one broadcast on the Australian Open is easy to fact-check. And for good reason: neither Nikolos Basilashvili, nor Dalila Jakupovic, nor Nick Kyrgios have withdrawn from this Australian Open.
The Georgian Nikolos Basilashvili also lost Tuesday against the Scottish Andy Murray. It also
played and lost Wednesday in doubles alongside Miomir Kecmanovic. Note that contrary to what the post on Twitter claims, Basilashvili is currently ranked 23rd in the world, and not 22nd.
For Australian Nick Kyrgios, he played and won on Wednesday his men’s doubles first round match with compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis. The player was to face this Thursday Daniil Medvedev. Again, the ATP ranking is wrong since the tennis player is now ranked 115th.
As for Slovenian Dalila Jakupovic, she is not participating in the Australian Open this year His last professional game date of November 2021. The player is now ranked 314th globally, not 180 as the social media post claims.
Netizens who spread this misinformation, however, are referring to the January 2020 edition – before the coronavirus outbreak became a global concern. Dalila Jakupovic had abandoned the tournament during qualifying when she suffered a severe cough in the middle of the match. At the time, the player blamed the smoke from the fires that were ravaging the country at that time. Several players on the main circuit were outraged at the situation in Melbourne, where the air was considered toxic.