Category Archives: Australian Open 2022

Novak Djokovic’s propensity for self-sabotage has become a defining trait | Tumaini Carayol

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The Serb is willing to pay price of being unvaccinated but is it worth missing the chance to be seen as the greatest ever?

Over the past 11 years of men’s tennis, during which Novak Djokovic rose to dominance and improbably positioned himself as one of the greatest to play the game, the only time his success has been in doubt came after the summer of 2017 when he suffered through many months with an elbow injury.

The injury became a point of contention between himself and his then-coach, Andre Agassi, who later said he had swiftly advocated for surgery. But Djokovic addressed the injury by resting for nearly six months, believing his body was built to heal itself naturally. It was not. After returning the next year to pain and early losses, Djokovic finally underwent surgery in February 2018. As he digested his guilt about agreeing to the surgery, he cried for days.

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Rafael Nadal hails greatest comeback to win ‘unexpected’ 21st grand slam title

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  • Sixth seed plays down becoming most successful male player
  • Daniil Medvedev criticises spectators after defeat

Rafael Nadal described his Australian Open triumph as his greatest comeback after he recovered from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev to win a record-breaking 21st grand slam title.

Nadal defeated Medvedev, the second seed, 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in five hours and 24 minutes, the second longest grand slam final. It is the first time in Nadal’s career he has come back from two sets down in a slam final and the Spaniard has now won at least two singles titles at all four grand slam tournaments.

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Ash Barty beats Collins to end 44-year wait for home Australian Open winner

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  • No 1 seed beats Collins 6-3, 7-6 (2) at Melbourne Park
  • Barty’s home victory seals her third grand slam title

When Ash Barty took her first steps on to Rod Laver Arena for her first Australian Open final, there was already no doubt about the completeness of her game, the integrity with which she carries herself and the historic career she is building before our eyes. But it still remained to be seen how she would handle and digest a moment like nothing before it.

She did so with the composure of a champion who could go on to win so much more. Before a crowd that lived every moment with her, Barty calmly navigated the fire of Danielle Collins, recovering from a 5-1 second-set deficit to win 6-3, 7-6 (2) and clinch the Australian Open for the first time. She is the first Australian to win an Australian Open singles title since Chris O’Neil in 1978. She did not drop a set. With three grand-slam titles to her name, Barty has joined Serena Williams as the only active women’s players to hold grand slam titles on all three surfaces.

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Australian Open reverses its ban on ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ T-shirts

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  • Shirts to be allowed but banners still barred, says Craig Tiley
  • Tennis Australia u-turn comes after international backlash

The Australian Open has reversed its ban on ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ T-shirts following widespread backlash to the tournament’s claim they constituted “commercial or political” material, but banners will still be prohibited.

Late last week spectators at Melbourne Park were asked to remove their shirts referencing the Chinese player, whose wellbeing has been the subject of international concern since she accused a senior Chinese official of sexual assault in early November.

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Martina Navratilova says Tennis Australia is ‘capitulating’ to China over Peng Shuai

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  • Former world No 1 labels Australian Open organisers ‘weak’
  • Messages of support for Chinese player banned from grand slam

Tennis great Martina Navratilova has condemned as “pathetic” the Australian Open’s decision to stop fans wearing ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ T-shirts, accusing Tennis Australia of “capitulating” to China.

Late last week spectators at Melbourne Park were asked to remove their T-shirts and security confiscated a banner emblazoned with the same words, on the grounds that TA prohibits “clothing, banners or signs that are commercial or political”.

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Australian Open day two: Stephens v Raducanu, Murray and Kyrgios win – live!

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First set: Basilashvili 1-2 Murray* (*denotes next server) Wahey! Basilashvili attempts to serve but the ball hits the top of the frame of his racket and it pings off skywards! You don’t see that every day in professional tennis. Anyway, it clearly doesn’t help him and a couple of unforced errors give Murray two break points - he grabs his chance as Basilashvili goes long and the Scot edges ahead earlier in this match.

First set: *Basilashvili 1-1 Murray (*denotes next server) There are some vocal fans in the arena today. I don’t speak Georgian but am assuming the bloke who is making himself heard from the stands is a Basilashvili fan. Good start from Murray, who ignores the distractions and secures a love-service game.

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Australia news live update: PM asked about double standard on Djokovic anti-vax concerns; 23 Covid deaths in Victoria, NSW as hospital cases rise

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Victoria reports 22,429 new Covid cases, six deaths and 1,229 people in hospital; NSW records 29,504 cases and 17 deaths, with 2,776 people in hospital; Scott Morrison discusses Novak Djokovic deportation; Australian surveillance flight to assess Tonga tsunami damage delayed; unions meet over workforce and supply chain shortages. Follow all the day’s news

Prime minister Scott Morrison has appeared on 2GB this morning, confirming Djokovic didn’t comply with entry requirements ... but that is not why his visa was cancelled.

Australia has very clear rules and Australians have been following those rules ... we apply our rules equally in this country and there was a very clear message sent – he wanted to come, he wasn’t vaccinated, well you’ve got to have a valid medical exemption and neither of those were in place. People make their own choices, and those choices meant you couldn’t come here and play tennis.

The idea someone could come and not follow those rules just was not on ... he was wrong, simple as that ... we didn’t give him an exemption, the federal government gave him no such exemption.

And that is that Mr Djokovic would be asked to leave, it is in the remit of the minister to do that, the judges reviewed the process and found the process the minister followed was legal. But to be quite frank, I am on the same page as Mr Djokovic. We’ll move on. And the things I will move on to are making sure to keep food on the shelves of supermarkets as ... people have been interested in the story, it’s been a ... soap opera. But now people are going to focus on the tennis, watch the tennis and also focus on looking after them and one of the big issues right now is making sure we keep food on the shelves at the grocery store.

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Australia live news update: Novak Djokovic federal court decision expected today; ‘difficult three weeks’ ahead for NSW amid Covid surge

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Government argues Serbian tennis star has become ‘icon’ for anti-vax groups as federal court adjourns; Victoria records 13 Covid-19 deaths and 28,128 new cases; Perrottet warns of ‘difficult three weeks’ as NSW records 20 deaths and 34,660 new cases; Queensland records three deaths and 17,445 new cases; ACT records two deaths and 1,316 cases. Follow all the day’s news here

In further Australian Covid news, the Morrison government has announced $24m in new funding to widen the use of telehealth for GPs and other specialists. The funding is a direct reaction to the infection rate from the Omicron outbreak. AAP reports:

The $24m will also cover the continued supply of personal protective equipment, such as masks, respirators, face shields and gowns for face-to-face consultations including patients that have tested positive through a rapid antigen test.

The latter aligns with national cabinet’s January 5 decision that RAT tests no longer need to be confirmed by a PCR test.

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Novak Djokovic Q&A: a wild day, what happens next and the legal view

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After another extraordinary day in the Novak Djokovic saga ahead of the Australian Open, what now for the world No 1?

Another extraordinary day in the Novak Djokovic saga began at 5.52pm local time when Australia’s minister for immigration, Alex Hawke, exerted his personal powers to cancel the men’s world No 1’s visa for the second time. In a statement Hawke said he had done so “on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so”.

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Novak Djokovic: Australia cancels tennis player’s visa before Australian Open

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Immigration minister Alex Hawke revokes Serbian player’s visa

Novak Djokovic’s Australian visa has again been cancelled just days before the start of the Australian Open.

On Friday, the Australian immigration minister, Alex Hawke, exercised a personal power to cancel Djokovic’s visa, likely to result in the world No 1’s deportation and putting him out of contention for the grand slam tournament barring an against-the-odds court victory.

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Novak Djokovic back on court as investigations continue

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  • World No 1 allows training to be observed
  • Australian government looking at multiple issues

Novak Djokovic’s preparations for the Australian Open continued on Wednesday as the question of his presence in the country remained unresolved. Australia’s immigration minister, Alex Hawke, continues to deliberate over whether or not he should revoke Djokovic’s visa.

On Wednesday afternoon, Djokovic returned for his third practice at Melbourne Park since he was released from immigration detention. With a small contingent of media present, Djokovic trained with the Australian youngster Tristan Schoolkate and he continued to ease himself back into practice, working through a series of drills.

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Andy Murray says Djokovic has questions to answer as players dive into visa row

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  • Marton Fucsovics: ‘I don’t think Novak has the right to be here’
  • Djokovic may have put incorrect information on travel form

Andy Murray has welcomed Novak Djokovic’s release from immigration detention but he anticipates the men’s world No 1 will have a number of questions to answer in the coming days if he remains in Australia.

Djokovic spent his first full day of freedom focusing on tennis matters as he took to Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena behind closed doors for much-needed practice after the best part of five days spent in a hotel room fighting the cancellation of his visa.

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‘Grateful’: Novak Djokovic thanks judge and takes to tennis court after release

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  • ‘Thank you all for standing with me’, tweets men’s tennis No 1
  • Mother says player was ‘subjected to torture and harassment’

Novak Djokovic ended an extraordinary day in Melbourne with his Australian Open dreams revived – for now – after winning an appeal against his visa cancellation. But his battle to stay in the country may yet have another twist in the tale, with the Australian government threatening to revoke his entry visa for a second time.

The circumstances have left the the world’s No 1 men’s tennis player, who spent four days in an immigration detention centre after his medical exemption from strict coronavirus vaccination rules was denied by border officials, in limbo days before he is due to begin the defence of his title next Monday.

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Novak Djokovic appeals in court against cancellation of Australian visa – live updates

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Lawyers for the Australian government have rejected tennis star’s claim he was given assurances a medical exemption would allow him to enter the country for the Australian Open as case heard in court

I have a live stream up and running now. Updates coming soon.

A spokesperson for the court says the hearing is going ahead, but the live stream is still down:

I am now advised the hearing has started. The court is working to rectify the situation. Apologies.

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More than 99,000 new cases nationwide on NSW’s deadliest day of pandemic

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NSW records 30,062 new Covid cases and 16 deaths; Victoria reports 44,155 cases and four deaths; Queensland records 18,000 cases, South Australia 4,506 cases and one death, Tasmania 1,406 cases, ACT 1,039, NT 481 and WA one. This blog is now closed

The health minister, Greg Hunt, has been asked about Novak Djokovic’s court case.

Hunt declined to comment, citing the fact the matter is before the court but did reveal that two other people connected with the Australian Open tournament have left Australia after their visas were cancelled.

In relation to Novak Djokovic, as this is now a matter before the courts, I will respectfully leave any commentary until after it has been heard by the court and my understanding is that there is a hearing tomorrow.

My other advice from border force is that their assessment of any visas relating to the Australian Open has now been completed and two other individuals have now voluntarily left the country – as is the case with an individual who has their visa cancelled is entitled to leave the country at any time, even while they are going through a court proceeding but that is a matter for them. Beyond that, the advice is that there is an ongoing court case so we respectfully are not making any additional comment.

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Australian government fails in bid to delay Novak Djokovic visa court hearing by two days

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World No 1 challenging visa cancellation but legal experts split on whether court process can be resolved in time for Australian Open draw

A bid by the Morrison government to delay Novak Djokovic’s visa hearing by two days has been rejected by the federal circuit court.

In an order, published on Sunday, judge Anthony Kelly rejected the move which would have delayed the hearing until Wednesday – after Tennis Australia’s stated deadline to include the world number one in the Australian Open draw.

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Novak Djokovic relied on December Covid infection for Australian vaccine exemption, court documents reveal

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Tennis star accuses Australian government officials of unfairly pressuring him to accept visa cancellation, documents show

Novak Djokovic relied on a weeks-old Covid infection to justify his vaccine-free travel to Australia and was given a green light by the federal government just days before arriving in the country, court documents reveal.

Court documents associated with Djokovic’s challenge to his visa cancellation were published by the federal circuit court late Saturday, ahead of an urgent hearing on Monday.

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Novak Djokovic to remain in detention during court challenge to Australian visa cancellation

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Australian Open champion is challenging his deportation after the Australian prime minister said officials were ‘following the rules’

Novak Djokovic is awaiting his Australian Open fate in a Melbourne immigration hotel as the world No 1 mounts a legal challenge against Australia’s decision to cancel his visa.

Djokovic’s lawyers succeeded in a bid to stop him from being deported on Thursday with a full hearing in the federal circuit court now scheduled for Monday.

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Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open participation in doubt over visa row

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Novak Djokovic’s attempts to compete at the Australian Open this month were thrown into fresh doubt on Wednesday amid a spiralling outcry over his controversial “medical exemption” agreed by the tournament’s organisers.

The whereabouts of the world No 1 and reigning Australian champion were in doubt after he was held up at passport control at Tullamarine airport in Melbourne, the host city of the tournament, for several hours late at night.

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