My son is a Novak Djokovic superfan, and a couple of weeks ago he texted me that his idol had moved his family from Serbia to Greece. Derrick was shocked. After all, Djokovic is one of the few tennis stars who still lives in his home country instead of a resort community with great weather and a favorable tax structure, and he has invested much in his country’s sports infrastructure. There was even talk about a future political career.
But all that came to an end when the tennis star openly supported a student movement against the corruption and anti-democratic actions of a government that has been in power since at least 2017. Demonstrations began last fall when the roof of a railway station in the university city of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people. The protests have since spread, forcing the resignation of a high-ranking government official, but the president, Alexander Vučić has become increasingly brutal in his efforts to hold onto power. Despite Djokovic’s iconic status, Vučić and his supporters made him into a target, threatening his family as well. So with great disappointment at the country’s direction, they moved, taking with them a tournament and other investments in the country.
Unfortunately, corruption, attacks on democratic rule, and threats against government opponents are not restricted to Serbia. Djokovic’s departure, however, illustrates the costs that regimes and their captive peoples will pay. In this case, it’s the loss of prestige, tax revenue, and opportunities that the athlete funded, as well as the whole world knowing that the situation in Serbia is so dire that its most prominent citizen had to flee for his freedom and safety.
Djokovic’s departure for Greece is far from the first high-profile defection in the tennis world. The whole world watched in 1975 when 18-year-old Martina Navratilova refused to return to her home in communist Czechoslovakia at the end of her run at the U.S. Open. She received asylum in the United States and became a U.S. citizen in 1981. Last year Australia offered a home to Daria Kasatkina, who fled Russia after coming out as gay and denouncing the invasion of Ukraine. Kasatkina’s defection cost the Putin regime another sports star when Olympic medalist figure skater Natalia Zabiiako joined her in Melbourne; the two are now engaged to be married.
The United States is now beginning to experience a brain drain, as scientists leave because they have lost their funding, and top students go elsewhere due to immigration crackdowns. So far, the athletes and creatives who have helped to give the country its stature in the world have not left, but that may be coming. Brain drains are never good for a society, as the departure of these contributors mean those who remain are poorer and less capable of thriving in a rapidly-changing world. And it has a multiplier effect, as parents who have aspirations for their children will encourage those children to find their opportunities elsewhere. I’ve already written that the best gift a parent can give their children is to encourage them to learn another language, and to do it early enough so that the children can learn it quickly. Having learned Spanish and Portuguese, I’m now studying German with the goal of helping to teach my grandchildren, who have dual U.S.-German citizenship. I’m also starting on another book project that will require a reading knowledge of German, but that’s a post for another time. At my age, it’s not easy, nor would it be easy to adapt to another country and culture. But for a young person with ability and ambition, the opportunities are greater and may very well lie in other lands.
