Jets star Aaron Rodgers was in attendance for Novak Djokovic"s U.S. Open Round of 16 win against Borna Gojo on Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The legendary quarterback was into the match as much as the New York diehard fans were.
“Bucket list ✓ being able to witness the greatness of @djokernole in person at #arthurashestadium," the 39-year-old Rodgers wrote in an Instagram story.
In the photo, Djokovic is seen serving in front of a “Moderna" sign. Rodgers crossed out the U.S. Open sponsor label and wrote, “#novaxdjokovic" with a goat emoji.
There's a lot happening in this photo as Aaron Rodgers got to see Novak Djokovic at the US Open today. pic.twitter.com/lNAjIBri79
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 4, 2023
Both Rodgers and Djokovic are publicly unvaccinated against COVID-19.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion had to miss the 2022 U.S. Open due to the same health regulations.
Djokovic returned to play in the quarterfinals on Tuesday against American Taylor Fritz.
Djokovic made international headlines after taking a stand against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations and got deported from Australia.
At the time, Djokovic had won the Australian Open a record nine times and was looking forward to making it an even ten.
“I respect the court"s ruling, and I will cooperate with the relevant authorities in relation to my departure from the country," he had said. “I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me, and I hope we can all now focus on the game and tournament I love."
One year later, having captured the hearts of every person who views vaccine mandates as an Orwellian overreach, Djokovic made a triumphant return to the country, capturing his 10th Australian Open Men’s Singles and his 22nd Grand Slam titles and cementing himself as the world’s top tennis player.
In 2021, Rodgers, then playing for the Green Bay Packers, stated at an August press conference, "Yeah, I’ve been immunized," when asked if he’d received the COVID vaccine but stressed that it should be a personal decision.
"There’s a lot of conversation around it, around the league, and a lot of guys who have made statements and not made statements, owners who have made statements," he said. "There’s guys on the team that haven’t been vaccinated. I think it’s a personal decision. I’m not going to judge those guys. It’s an interesting issue that I think we’re going to see played out the entire season."
Months later, in November, Rodgers admitted that he had, in fact, not taken the vaccine after he tested positive for COVID-19.
"I realize I’m in the crosshairs of a woke mob right now. So, before my final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket, I think I would like to set the record straight on so many of the blatant lies that are out there about myself," Rodgers said during an interview on “The Pat McAfee Show."
“It wasn"t some sort of ruse or lie," he explained. “It was the truth, I have an allergy to an ingredient, that"s in the mRNA vaccines. And so, I looked into and talked, again, to a lot of medical individuals and professionals and found that there was an immunization protocol that I could go to, to best protect myself and my teammates."
"And it was a long-term protocol that involved multiple months," he added. "I’m very proud of the research that went into that and the individuals that I met with, and we felt like it was what was best for me."
The NFL, he said, had known all of this and that he’d unsuccessfully tried to lobby the league into accepting the "protocol" as a form of vaccination.
"No doctor from the league or the joint NFL-NFLPA infectious disease consultants communicated with the player," an NFL spokesperson told Profootballtalk.com. "If they had, they certainly would have never said anything like that."
He also seemed to applaud Djokovic’s decision to not get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the post.
Djokovic had to sit out last year’s U.S. Open because of his unvaccinated status preventing him from entering the United States at the time.
The U.S. government in May lifted a requirement that international travelers entering the country had to be vaccinated.
Djokovic had been one of the most steadfast athletes in their desire not to get vaccinated, even saying in the past that he would rather miss grand slams than take the COVID shot to compete.
He is competing in his first U.S. Open since 2021.
“The reason why I was not here for two years, I have zero regrets on that. I"m just glad to be back," Djokovic told CNN early last month. “I"ve had plenty of success on American soil with Indian Wells, Miami, obviously Canada, and here, [I’ve] won many times at these Masters 1,000 events, all of them. Of course, the U.S. Open as well being the pinnacle of the hard-court season. I’m just excited."
Djokovic defeated Borna Gojo 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday night to advance to the quarterfinals.
He’ll take on American Taylor Fritz on Tuesday in Djokovic’s 13th quarterfinal in Queens.
