“What more could this man have done?” With this rhetorical question, judge Anthony Kelly yesterday justified his decision to allow Novak Djokovic to enter Australia for the time being. Last Wednesday, the unvaccinated tennis star was stopped at the airport and taken to a deportation hotel. It is now clear that the Serb, who wants to win the Australian Open starting on January 17th for the tenth time, can move freely “Down Under”.
He owes this primarily to a mistake by the border authorities. They did not give the world number one the required time to explain his visa documents. Specifically, Djokovic was told at 5:20 a.m. that he had until 8:30 a.m. In fact, his opinion was obtained at 6:14 a.m. and the decision was made at 7:42 a.m., i.e. before the deadline had expired.
Djokovic won the first set against the Australian authorities, but not the match yet. Judge Kelly only found that the visa withdrawal was wrong, but not whether Djokovic’s entry was legal. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke yesterday no longer wanted to decide whether he would exercise his personal right to withdraw a visa without giving a reason. He could still do that in the next few days.
The state of Victoria and Australia’s Tennis Association had given Djokovic an exemption because he had been infected with Corona in the past six months. However, according to Australia’s Ministry of Health, this is not a sufficient reason for an exception.
With pepper spray
There were tumultuous scenes on Melbourne’s streets when hundreds of Djokovic fans yesterday surrounded a car in front of the lawyer’s building where they suspected their idol was. The police used pepper spray to resolve the situation.
Djokovic resumed training shortly after his release. “Despite everything that has happened, I want to stay here and try to compete in the Australian Open,” said the relieved star, who attended a press conference for his family in Belgrade.
Kyrgios is corona positive
In the week before the main round of the Australian Open in Melbourne, local hero Nick Kyrgios tested positive for corona. The 26-year-old has no symptoms, as he announced yesterday via Instagram. The six-time ATP tournament winner, who is currently only in 114th position in the world rankings, has been vaccinated and now hopes to be able to compete in Melbourne anyway.
Meanwhile, the shape of Ashleigh Barty is very promising. After their 6: 3, 6: 2 in the final in Adelaide over Jelena Rybakina (Kaz), the Australian world number one does without the WTA tournament in Sydney this week. The 25-year-old prefers to take a break before Melbourne.
Jurij Rodionov (7: 6/3, 6: 4 over Filip Horansky / Svk) and Julia Grabher (6: 7/5, 6: 2, 5: 2 / task over Katharina Hobgarski / D) started with victories in the Australian Open qualification.
Source: Nachrichten
