Novak Djokovic’s bid to win another Australian Open has ended. In fact, he could be the first player to go out of a tournament for failing to get a simple two shots. His apparent anti-vaccination stance has cost him dearly and a drawn-out legal battle is over.
The world number one swapped the tennis courts for the law courts and Djokovic vs Australia became a case where nobody emerged the obvious winner. Djokovic may have lost but the Australian government’s indecision also made it look like they’d drop the ball. Here’s how it played out.
15-0: Djokovic gets permission to enter Australia despite not being vaccinated, thanks to the Victorian state government and Tennis Australia.
15-15: Australia finds out about this exemption and is at breaking point.
15-30: The federal government plays a deft defensive shot in response to the outcry. It over-rules the state government and decides Djokovic can’t enter the country.
30-30: It’s now the turn of Camp Djokovic to be up in arms. Fans claim he’s being detained in a grotty hotel with little access to his legal team. His lawyers then play their ace, revealing that the world number one had covid in December, which automatically gave him an exemption.
30-40: Aha, cry journalists who have been scrolling back through the star’s Twitter feed, he was photographed without a mask the day after his first positive test. And then he gave an interview to a magazine. And then he travelled after his visa form promised that he hadn’t. And then his visa application said he hadn’t travelled anywhere for the previous two weeks. And so on.
Deuce: A court decides that Djokovic should be able to stay, on the basis that he’d done all that was asked of him. Others disagree, notably these Australian TV presenters, who were caught giving their true feelings about the case. Some even think Djokovic could be jailed for giving misleading statements (never going to happen).
Advantage Australia: Immigration minister Alex Hawke executes a perfect return by cancelling Djokovic’s visa, meaning he could also be banned from the country for three years.
Game, Set and Match: Australia: A last-gasp dive at the net by Djokovic in the form of an application for a judicial review fails to persuade the country’s judges. He also faces a three-year ban from returning to Australia.
The resentment in Australia towards the Serbian star was enormous. It was also unsurprising, given the tough rules Australians have had to comply with. Although they won their battle, the government doesn’t come out of this in glory th
