Novak Djokovic has been soaring through this year's US Open, but things looked very different a year ago, leading fans to recall a particular dispute between his wife Jelena and a tennis magazine.

23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has been the dominant force of the men's sport this season, winning two out of three majors so far at the Australian Open and Roland Garros.

The Serb has also been having a successful run at the last Slam of the year in New York, where he has only dropped two sets on his way to the semi-finals. There, he will face the young and unseeded rising talent Ben Shelton.

However, this time last year Djokovic was not playing at the US Open. In fact, he wasn't even in the country as his unvaccinated status barred him from entering the US during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From this, a tense moment occurred between the player's wife Jelena and the social media platform for Racquet Magazine. The media site had tweeted about Djokovic's absence from the Canadian Open, a warm-up event for the Slam, which he was also barred from attending despite initially entering it.

"Dunno why this guy keeps entering tournaments hoping they’ll change their rules for him," they wrote.

Jelena responded to the comment by throwing shade at the magazine. Racquet Magazine then replied by saying that they'd love to see Djokovic play in tournaments again, but only if he followed the rules.

Jelena then hit back by suggesting that her husband was, indeed, following the rules. The magazine then came back by saying that he should withdraw from events rather than wait until the last minute when he knew he wouldn't be able to play.

"A stand is only a stand if one takes it," they wrote, to which Jelena replied:

"His most important stand is to be a tennis champion. And he took it. I mean, a stand is a stand. Given that you are a tennis magazine- maybe focus on that in the weeks to come? Take a stand. Be what you are meant to be. A tennis magazine that writes about tennis."

In light of this year's Slam, this dispute almost seems like ancient history. However, it offers a small time capsule of what was certainly a bizarre period for humanity.