An Invernessian in America by Diane Knox: Top-ranking tennis player Novak Djokovic was at fault when aiming to compete in Australian Open
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Major tennis made its return with the Australian Open, the first of the four Grand Slam events, but the opening action was somewhat overshadowed by the one name who stands no chance of winning: Novak Djokovic.
In fact, he landed back in his homeland of Serbia following his deportation from the Land Down Under.
The nine-time Australian Open champ had to deal with a different kind of court – the Federal kind – as they decided last week to uphold the decision to cancel his visa, and his chances of winning a record-breaking 21 majors for now.
In case you missed it, here’s a brief rundown. Djokovic had tested positive for Covid-19 in Belgrade mid-December and was later found to have flouted isolation rules.
He used his positive test (and antibodies) as argument to initially enter Oz, but his visa was cancelled as he didn’t meet Australia’s rules for unvaccinated visitors.
He was detained in a hotel for a week, appealed the decision, won, started practising for the tournament, but then his visa was revoked for a second time by the country’s immigration minister, a decision backed by the Federal Court. This back and forth is a bit like a tennis match.
The Australian Open has made vaccination mandatory for all who attend: players, coaches, you name it.
The people of Australia have been hammered by the pandemic, and have been under very strict lockdown orders and travel bans for a long time now.
They have to prove vaccination status to do pretty much anything, including attending the Aussie Open.
The Djokovic fiasco has been dramatic and rubbed them up the wrong way, and rightly so.
I mean, he’s one of the greatest athletes we’ve ever seen on the court – when he plays, there’s no doubt the man is entertaining and his skill level is unrivalled.
But when he appealed the decision of deportation, it was a slap in the face to those who have followed the rules.
Why should the World Number One be the exception just because he’s trying to break a record?
It’s been, and still is, a hot topic of debate. I think it’s been amplified along the way but there’s no doubt that it has engaged a number of people to think about the rules.
If I was one of the Australian citizens who’d been living in a state of lockdown for the best part of the last two years and the tennis ace had been allowed to play, I might’ve turned up with a banner saying “Who do you think you are?” and heckled him!
The whole thing is a no-win situation but imagine if he had been allowed to compete, and had won, breaking Grand Slam records.
It could’ve ended up as the one victory he’d want to forget.
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