MELBOURNE, Australia — After a 75-minute delay, Novak Djokovic was positioned within the Australian Open draw Thursday amid uncertainty over his visa standing and a possible deportation nonetheless hanging over his head.
Djokovic, the No. 1 seed, will face Serbian compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic within the first spherical, if his visa doesn’t get canceled.
The draw, to find out the boys’s and ladies’s singles brackets on the 12 months’s first tennis main, was scheduled to be held at 3 p.m. native time in Melbourne, however a match official advised ready media that the ceremony had been postponed till additional discover and declined additional remark. It was later rescheduled to 4:15 p.m. native time.
The Australian Open begins Monday. Djokovic traveled to Australia searching for to win a twenty first Grand Slam title to interrupt the boys’s report of 20 he shared with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated Thursday the federal government has but to resolve on canceling Djokovic’s visa.
The Australian immigration minister Alex Hawke was nonetheless contemplating whether or not to deport the nine-time and defending Australian Open champion, who shouldn't be vaccinated towards COVID-19, on public curiosity grounds.
The 34-year-old Serb had his visa canceled on arrival in Melbourne final week when his vaccination exemption was questioned, however he gained a authorized battle on procedural grounds that allowed him to remain within the nation.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce stated most Australians disapproved of the nine-time and defending Australian Open champion coming to Melbourne to compete in breach of the nation’s robust pandemic quarantine guidelines.
“The overwhelming majority of Australians … didn’t like the concept that one other particular person, whether or not they’re a tennis participant or … the king of Spain or the Queen of England, can come up right here and have a distinct algorithm to what all people else has to cope with,” Joyce stated.
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