He's turning to the Donald Trump of the tennis world. No matter how cunty his behavior is, he'll have his supporters (god bless nationalism, one of the more obnoxious forms of tribalism). And now with the whole shitstorm he'll even gain the support of the anti-science antivax crowd. Like Trump and to some extent Obama, he's become the subject of a cult of personality. He can never do wrong in their eyes.
Just to protect my ego when this is downvoted and flagged to death: watch this comment get downvoted, because even HN has too many such numbnuts.