Australian Open offers reminders that sports reflect society

Tennis, in particular, and sports, in general, can’t help but reflect society

Novak Djokovic is back at the Australian Open, which is newsworthy, yes, mainly because of the reason he was not in the tournament a year ago: He is not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Another player — albeit one who is lower-ranked, less successful and less famous, Camila Giorgi — drew scrutiny because of published reports in her home country of Italy about whether she got a fake vaccine certificate from a doctor under investigation that would allow her to travel.

“Unbelievable,” Giorgi’s father, Sergio, said when that subject was the only one addressed during her news conference at Melbourne Park on Tuesday. “No questions about tennis.”