Category Archives: Australian Open

MP calls for action on crime in ‘under siege’ town – as it happened

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Pearson urges voice dissenters to ‘be smart’

Karvelas also asks Pearson about the concerns that are coming from the left, including Indigenous affairs spokesperson for the Greens, Lidia Thorpe, who will be calling for treaty before voice at the Invasion Day rally.

And when you have a breakthrough response, a breakthrough response like constitutional recognition, you’ve got to grab it. You’ve got to switch from protest to grabbing the opportunity.

… And I believe that a full response to the Uluru statement will achieve actual real reconciliation. We’re at a point in our history where the protest has achieved the result we desire. And, and so we’ve got to be smart about it.

This this year is the most important here in the past 235. That’s my assertion. This is the most important year and and this referendum is the most important question concerning Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians since the first fleet.

We’ve got to understand what is at stake, and that is the chance for reconciliation and if the referendum is kiboshed through game play and spoiling game by the opposition, we will lose the opportunity forever.

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Novak Djokovic joins calls for Australian Open to address schedule issues

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  • Concerns raised over late finishes at Melbourne Park
  • ‘It’s really gruelling,’ says Serbian nine-times champion

Novak Djokovic has added his voice to calls for changes to be made to the Australian Open schedule amid growing concern over player welfare and fairness at this year’s tournament at Melbourne Park.

Andy Murray was forced to back up just a day and a half after a gruelling near-six hour epic against Thanasi Kokkinakis that did not finish until 4am local time, a match that highlighted the issue for the first time at this year’s grand slam.

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Flags and Wallies: Melbourne Park fans spark player anger at Australian Open

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  • Djokovic rails at ‘drunk’ spectator on Rod Laver Arena
  • Russian player Rublev barracked by Ukraine supporters

Spectators at the Australian Open were in the spotlight on Thursday after separate incidents sparked player anger on the court at Melbourne Park and the crowd stayed until 4am watching Thanasi Kokkinakis play Andy Murray.

In his second-round match against France’s Enzo Couacaud on Rod Laver Arena, Novak Djokovic complained to the umpire after appearing to be barracked by a supporter, one of several dressed in a Where’s Wally? costume.

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‘We need him here’: Djokovic comeback melts Melbourne hearts … almost

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  • Serb roundly cheered despite fears of abuse from crowd
  • Detractors remain as some fans question his character

In the moments before Novak Djokovic returned to Rod Laver Arena, many fans were unsure whether he would be welcomed back as the nine-time Australian Open champion or rebuked as an unvaccinated Covid-era villain.

Even his vocal supporters, like Peta Kovitch, draped in a Serbian flag and a string of lights that lit up the name Novak around her neck, expected some abuse from the Melbourne crowd. “If they want to boo, well they can go to the football. I’m sorry, that’s where it belongs,” she said before the match.

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Nick Kyrgios’ withdrawal affects the Australian Open more than him | Emma Kemp

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Happy slam’s return to normality suffers another blow with late loss of its most sellable product

The time was 4pm, 27 hours before Nick Kyrgios was due to play his opening match and three minutes before he confirmed he would not. The announcement on the PA that “Nick Kyrgios is on his way to the main media conference room” was so unanticipated that journalists had to run to get there before he did.

You never know what you will get with Kyrgios, but 11th-hour withdrawals have become a theme of his non-existent 2023 season. It started with the United Cup, when his Australia teammates were informed 10 minutes before their joint press conference in Sydney that not only would he not be there but would not be playing any part in the competition.

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Djokovic claims he was made ‘villain of the world’ over Australia Covid row

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  • Former world No 1 points finger at media over 2022 drama
  • ‘Everything got out of hand … the media picked on me big time’

Novak Djokovic says he felt like “the villain of the world” during the storm that surrounded his deportation from Australia before last year’s Australian Open. The nine-time champion at Melbourne Park was deported from the country last January after his visa was cancelled over his Covid vaccination status.

A three-year ban from Australia initially accompanied that decision but that was overturned in November and the Serb is preparing for this year’s tournament, which begins on Monday.

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Lifesavers rescue 1,200 over holiday period in Australia – as it happened

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‘Challenging night’ for WA fire crews in south-west

Earlier today, Western Australian Department of Fire and Emergency Services incident controller Peter Thomas said it had been a “challenging night” for fire crews in the south-west, as bushfires threaten the region.

So our volunteers from the Donnybrook area across the south-west [who have] come to deal with this incident.

We’ve had some strong winds that have been coming consistently from the east, but been fairly strong and making it challenging for our crews.

When we allow sportspeople from Russia to participate in the Australian Open, we do exactly what Putin wants.

It doesn’t matter what flag Russian Federation players compete under. It has Ukrainian blood on it.

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Novak Djokovic forgives but won’t forget Australian visa saga as he prepares for Adelaide International

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World men’s tennis No 5 says return proves he is ready to move on from his deportation and begin quest for 10th Australian Open title

Novak Djokovic says there are no hard feelings on his return to Australia, but can’t guarantee he will ever completely move past the saga that torpedoed his 2022 Australian Open hopes and thrust him into the centre of a media frenzy.

Djokovic was deported from Australia almost 12 months ago after arriving unvaccinated against Covid at a time when the country was still subject to strict biosecurity regulations. Such regulations have now been lifted and in November the Australian government overturned the three-year ban that came with Djokovic’s deportation and granted him a visa to return for the summer of tennis.

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Activists to revisit controversial ‘Where is Peng Shuai’ protests at January Australian Open

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One of the protesters, Drew Pavlou, says they want to ‘make trouble’ for Tennis Australia over its links to China

Activists plan to reprise their controversial “Where is Peng Shuai?” protest at next month’s grand slam, with the support of three-time Australian Open winner Martina Navratilova.

At this year’s Open in January, Tennis Australia was criticised for initially confiscating the shirts, citing a ban on “commercial or political” material. The decision was later reversed.

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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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Serbia’s leaders hit out at ‘scandalous’ treatment of Novak Djokovic

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President and prime minister condemn Australia’s ‘farcical’ deportation of world tennis No 1

Serbia’s president has said Novak Djokovic had been “harassed … but not humiliated” and the prime minister called his treatment “scandalous” as the world tennis No 1’s home country reacted furiously to his deportation from Australia.

After an 11-day saga, three judges unanimously upheld a decision by the immigration minister to cancel Djokovic’s visa because his presence might risk ‘civil unrest’ by stoking anti-vaccination sentiment, removing any chance of him winning a 21st grand slam at the Australian Open.

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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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