Novak Djokovic now knows the opponent in the first round at the Australian Open – but Immigration Minister Alex Hawke‘s decision on his visa is still unknown. The draw for the first tennis grand slam of the year, which was delayed by more than an hour, resulted in a duel with his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic for the world number one.
Whether it comes to this at the tournament that starts on Monday depends entirely on Hawke – and he apparently takes more time on the third day after Djokovic’s success in court. Prime Minister Scott Morisson did not want to anticipate his minister at a routine press conference and refused to comment on the matter. “These are personal ministerial powers that Minister Hawke can use and I will not comment on them at this time,” said Morrison in Canberra.
According to a report in the newspaper The Age the decision should not be made on Thursday. The sheet referred to government circles. On Wednesday it became known that new information from the lawyers of 34-year-old Djokovic had postponed the timeframe for Hawkes’ decision. It is still not known when, after days of tug-of-war over the Serbian visa, it will finally be clear.
Djokovic apparently wants to fight for his participation to the last
According to The Age but there are signs that Djokovic wants to go into revision by Sunday in the event of a refused visa in order to be able to start. The newspaper quotes a source close to the Serbs, who said that the Serbs would not hesitate to exhaust all means.
Djokovic is not vaccinated against the coronavirus and his residence permit could be withdrawn by the government. The 34-year-old number one in the tennis world rankings was stopped last week on arrival at the airport and initially taken to a deportation hotel because the border officials did not have enough documents for his medical exemption.
Djokovic successfully defended himself against the decision in court on Monday and has since trained in Melbourne. The Djokovic case is also explosive against the background that the state of Victoria, in which the Australian Open is taking place, has immensely high numbers of infections. More than 37,000 new cases were recorded in 24 hours on Thursday. There were also 25 Covid-19-related deaths and 953 people were admitted to hospitals.
Because of the rising Corona numbers, the regional government in Melbourne has announced that it will limit the number of spectators to the first Grand Slam tournament of the year to 50 percent of capacity. Djokovic has already won the Australian Open nine times and is the defending champion. With another triumph this year, the record winner of the tournament could also become the sole record holder with 21 Grand Slam titles.
The German number one, Alexander Zverev, is number three on the seeding list in the same half of the tournament as the Serb. As in the Olympic Games and the US Open, the two could only meet in the semifinals. Zverev meets Daniel Altmaier in a German duel in the first round.
In addition to the entry dispute in Australia, Djokovic is now threatened with trouble with the authorities in Spain. Everything indicates that he entered the EU country illegally shortly before New Year’s Eve, as reported by the usually well-informed radio station Cadena Cope and other Spanish media. When he entered the country, the tennis player had neither submitted a vaccination certificate nor applied for the special permit that is mandatory for unvaccinated Serbs in Spain, it said, citing the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid.
The government in Madrid ordered the police to initiate an investigation. According to media reports from Spain and Australia, among others, Djokovic was seen, photographed and filmed on December 31st and January 2nd and 3rd in the luxury seaside resort of Marbella in southern Spain. There he trained at the Club de Tenis Puente Romano and distributed autographs, including the renowned Spanish newspaper The country reported. According to the media, the Serb owns a house in Marbella in the province of Andalusia.
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