The Hawk-Eye (“eagle eye”) can call Novak Djokovic on the tennis court for help to have a disputed line ball checked. In this respect, it is fitting that the perspective of a “Hawk(e)” should also be decisive for the attempted entry of the Serbian tennis star to the Australian Open, which begins on Monday. His name is Alex Hawke and, as Minister of Immigration, announced yesterday that Djokovic’s visa would be void. “For reasons of health and public order,” Hawke said when he exercised his veto power.
Judge Anthony Kelly stayed Djokovic’s deportation yesterday. Before today (8 a.m. CET) a personal hearing of the nine-time Melbourne winner follows. The decision will then be made in court tomorrow. A corresponding application had been made by the lawyer of the world number one, also so that his client did not have to go back to the deportation hotel immediately, where he spent several days after the first visa was refused. Due to procedural errors by the border officials, who had given him too little time when entering the country, he had successfully appealed an initial expulsion.
Djokovic is running out of time
The fact that Hawke waited with his veto until Friday evening (local time) reduces the Djokovic side’s time to return legally before the start of the tournament. The Australian Open confirmed the schedule yesterday, according to which the defending champion, who is at the top of the grid, will play his opening match against compatriot Kecmanovic on Monday. While Assen, for example, who last played in Adelaide or Sydney, is given a breather until the middle of the week, the organizers are apparently no longer willing to give Djokovic an extra sausage. With the special permit to be able to take part in the tournament without being vaccinated, that was still done. Since then, however, the cause has grown into a political affair, about which Serbian and Australian heads of government are on the phone with each other.
Hawke had a large majority of Australians behind him when he made his decision yesterday. 83 percent support the expulsion of the tennis star, according to a survey by the News Corp group. The vaccination rate on the fifth continent is 91 percent, and many people are outraged about exceptions for the unvaccinated. They also had to massively restrict themselves during the pandemic when they had to endure the world’s longest lockdown. Recently, the number of newly infected people has risen sharply again.
Meanwhile, the Serbian media reacted with incomprehension to the Hawke decision. “blic.rs” wrote about the “persecution of Novak”.
Another ace up your sleeve
Experts see Djokovic’s chances of success at a start are gradually dwindling. First, because the paragraph (Section 133C) that Hawke referred to offers little scope for attack. And even if Djokovic were successful here, the minister could still bring up Section 109. This targets the incorrect information that the athlete has provided on their immigration form. Last but not least, it’s hard to imagine that there would be so much legal work before his opening game. Djokovic would have avoided all that if he had been vaccinated like 97 percent of his tennis colleagues. (pue)
Australian Open: Main competition without Austrians
The main competition of the Australian Open, which begins on Monday, will take place without red-white-red participation. After Dennis Novak had waited in vain for a wild card after surviving corona disease, Julia Grabher failed at the last hurdle of qualification yesterday. The woman from Vorarlberg, who is 188th in the world rankings, was beaten by number 200, Caroline Dolehide (USA), 6: 7 (5), 2: 6. In the tie-break of the first set, Grabher had already led 5:3. Dominic Thiem is planning his comeback after his hand injury for January 31 in Cordoba.
Source: Nachrichten
