Deja vu for Novak Djokovic, detained again in Australian hotel before second court battle

MELBOURNE, Australia — It was deja vu for Novak Djokovic connected Saturday arsenic the tennis prima was detained for a 2nd clip by Australian authorities and placed backmost successful the precise aforesaid edifice he’d triumphantly near conscionable this week.

The unusual country of the world’s top-ranked men’s subordinate again being escorted into a edifice lodging asylum seekers came connected the eve of a tribunal proceeding to determine whether Djokovic volition beryllium deported oregon allowed to stay successful the state to vie successful the Australian Open.

A time earlier, Australia’s migration curate had canceled Djokovic’s visa for the 2nd clip connected the grounds that the unvaccinated tennis player’s beingness mightiness incite anti-vaccine sentiment Down Under.

That decision, and Djokovic’s detention connected Saturday, person thrown the Serbian star’s pursuit of tennis past into superior uncertainty and threatened to upend the Grand Slam tournament, which begins Monday.

As Djokovic’s opponents spent the greeting preparing for their archetypal matches, helium spent it nether guard, moving with his attorneys for Sunday’s decisive showdown.

And arsenic journalists scrambled astir Melbourne successful pursuit of a glimpse of Djokovic, the tennis satellite reacted with a premix of shock, anger, shrugs and schadenfreude to quality of his detention.

“It’s precise wide that Novak Djokovic is 1 of the champion players [in] history,” said Rafael Nadal, who, similar Djokovic, is hoping to marque past by winning his 21st Grand Slam successful Melbourne. “But determination is nary 1 subordinate successful past that’s much important than an event.”

“I consciousness it has taken distant a small spot from the large tennis that’s been happening implicit this summertime successful Australia,” added Emma Raducanu, the reigning US Open women’s champion.

But Australian Nick Kyrgios, who has clashed with Djokovic successful the past, said authorities were “nitpicking” with the No. 1 men’s player.

“Either nonstop him retired early, oregon fto him play,” Kyrgios told The Age, a Melbourne newspaper. “Now I consciousness it’s getting a spot embarrassing. I consciousness it’s not just connected him now. Preparing for a expansive slam is hard enough.”

The saga began astir 2 weeks ago, erstwhile Djokovic — who has expressed absorption to coronavirus vaccines — posted connected Instagram that helium was “heading Down Under with an exemption permission.”

The quality didn’t spell down good successful Australia, a highly vaccinated state that is successful the midst of a terrible spike successful coronavirus infections. When helium arrived astatine the Melbourne airdrome connected Jan. 5, Australian Border Force officers decided his aesculapian exemption was valid to play successful the tourney but not to participate the country. They detained him for 8 hours, canceled his visa, and past enactment him successful the Park Hotel, wherever asylum seekers person complained astir conditions.

Just arsenic it appeared Djokovic would beryllium deported, a national justice ruled that Border Force officials had mistreated Djokovic and ordered him released, mounting disconnected jubilant celebrations from the hundreds of supporters — Serbs, tennis fans, and anti-vaccine advocates — who had gathered extracurricular his edifice for 4 days.

But the authorities threatened to again cancel his visa, and Immigration Minister Alex Hawke followed done connected Friday evening, reigniting the ineligible conflict and mounting disconnected a flurry of rushed tribunal hearings.

Court documents released Saturday laid retired the arguments that are apt to collide successful the Sunday greeting hearing, which volition commencement astatine 9:30 a.m. successful Melbourne.

In a papers outlining his reasons for canceling Djokovic’s visa, Hawke dropped the statement astir the validity of the tennis player’s aesculapian exemption, saying helium didn’t adjacent work the worldly Djokovic submitted regarding his caller covid corruption — the grounds for his exemption — due to the fact that “I’m not medically trained.”

The curate besides conceded that Djokovic’s caller corruption meant helium posed a “negligible” hazard of infecting others.

Instead, Hawke noted that Djokovic is “a precocious illustration unvaccinated individual, who has indicated publically that helium is opposed to becoming vaccinated against covid-19.”

“I see that Mr. Djokovic’s beingness successful Australia whitethorn airs a wellness hazard to the Australian community, successful that his beingness successful Australia whitethorn foster anti-vaccination sentiment” that would pb to much radical getting covid and accrued unit connected the infirmary system, Hawke argued.

Hawke besides pointed to Djokovic’s determination to clasp an interrogation and photograph sprout with a French paper successful Serbia aft investigating affirmative past month. Djokovic has apologized for his conduct.

“Given Mr. Djokovic’s precocious illustration presumption and presumption arsenic a relation exemplary successful the sporting oregon broader community, his ongoing beingness successful Australia whitethorn foster akin disregard for the precautionary requirements pursuing receipt of a affirmative covid-19 test,” helium wrote.

At a proceeding connected Friday night, however, Djokovic’s lawyer called Hawke’s statement “patently irrational” due to the fact that it lone considered the interaction of the tennis prima remaining successful Australia and not his deportation.

“The curate lone considers the imaginable for breathtaking anti-vax sentiment successful the lawsuit that [Djokovic] is present" successful Australia, Nick Wood argued. “The curate gives nary information whatsoever to what effect [deportation] whitethorn person connected anti-vax sentiment and so connected nationalist order.”

Canceling Djokovic’s visa would pb to the “mandatory removal of this antheral of bully lasting who has a aesculapian contraindication to a vaccine, who has complied with the law, who poses a negligible hazard to others, being forced retired of Australia,” Wood said.

As portion of an affidavit successful enactment of Djokovic, his lawyers included a blurry photograph of a section newspaper’s online canvass asking readers whether the tennis subordinate should beryllium allowed to play successful the Open.

At the clip of the screenshot, 60 percent of respondents said “yes,” including the subordinate of the ineligible squad who took the photo.

Other polls, however, person shown the bulk of Australians are against Djokovic being allowed to enactment successful the country.

One happening that did spell Djokovic’s mode Saturday was national justice David O’Callaghan’s determination that Sunday’s proceeding would beryllium heard by a afloat tribunal consisting of him and 2 different judges. Djokovic’s ineligible squad had been hoping for a afloat court, which makes it harder for the losing broadside to appeal, due to the fact that they don’t privation to resistance retired proceedings oregon the tennis player’s detention.

But ineligible experts pass that the tennis player’s attorneys person overmuch little country to sound down this visa cancelation than they did the archetypal clip around. Djokovic’s squad volition person to transportation the judges that Hawke someway erred erstwhile deciding that the Serbian mightiness incite anti-vaccine sentiment.

One happening that could enactment successful their favour is that anti-vaccine sentiment isn’t hard to find successful Melbourne, wherever months of protests person occasionally turned violent.

On Saturday, arsenic Djokovic was hunkered down with his attorneys, respective 100 radical marched done the city’s streets with signs saying “My Body, My Choice” and “Hands Off Our Kids,” a notation to Australia precocious making coronavirus vaccines disposable to children betwixt the property of 5 and 11.

Though a fewer radical wore Serbian flags, the objection — which had been planned for astatine slightest a week, according to constabulary and protesters — didn’t person overmuch to bash with Djokovic.

“This isn’t for Novak,” said Annette Davies, 53. “This is astir vaccine mandates.”

As Border Force officers took Djokovic retired of his attorneys’ offices and backmost to the Park Hotel, the protesters were crossed town, marching and chanting for “freedom.” But it was their freedom, not Novak’s.

“We are present to enactment the Australian people,” said Scott Taylor, an Australian Defense Force seasoned marching successful camouflage fatigues. “Novak Djokovic is simply a distraction.”