BSR

"2 weeks to flatten the curve"

Novak will almost inevitably lose the number one ranking, although he doesn't really care now that he broke Roger's record for most weeks at #1. Novak very much cares about the Slam race, and this AO was a prime opportunity to break the 3-way tie. Some on Twitter are doubting that Craig Tiley keeps his job after this. I'm not sure he deserves getting fired. After all, even the federal government conceded that prior infection was a legitimate medical exemption. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke canceled Novak's visa because he believed Novak's participation in the AO would fire up anti-vaxxers. It's not Tiley's fault that Alex Hawke decided to play politics. Politicians care only about 2 things: getting elected and getting re-elected. 84% of Australians thought Novak should be deported, and Morrison's government responded accordingly. Only Macron and Roland Garros have guaranteed that Novak can play. UK & US current immigration rules bar his entry. If Novak plays only for the Slams but is shut out of 3 of the 4, he might as well retire.

Tennis players usually avoid politics like the plague, for the obvious reasons. Without wading too deep into a political situation, some players are starting to come out in support of Novak. Even Nick Kyrgios, who has been trolling and disrespecting Novak for years, has shown his support of Novak. I'm curious if Zverev & Medvedev will say anything supportive of Novak. While the #2 & #3 players aren't really friends with Novak, both are on very good terms with him. And both Russians (yes, I know Zverev is German, but his family is Russian & he grew up speaking Russian at home) tend to speak their mind, political correctness be damned.

Vasek Pospisil, Novak's best friend on tour outside of his fellow Serbs, makes some good points here. Novak made the trip to Australia only because the government issued him a visa. Had they denied him entry from the get go, he would have stayed home. He didn't sneak in; he didn't break any rules.

I just saw a video summarizing all the aspects of this case. According to Gil Gross, podcaster with Tennis magazine, Immigration Minister Hawke has conceded that prior infection in the last 6 months is a valid medical exemption. His motivation for canceling Novak's visa is strictly politics and public relations: fear that a high-profile unvaccinated athlete being allowed to enter the country will fuel anti-vaxx sentiment in Australia. Gross also said that the stories that Novak falsified the positive test and that he entered Spain illegally have both been debunked, although he didn't go into detail. If the judge rules in favor of Hawke's decision, then this drama ends. But if he rules in Novak's favor, then the government can still keep trying to deport Novak, just coming up with a different statute every time. Who can play any tournament, much less a best-of-5 Slam, while embroiled in so much chaos? 83% of Australians think Novak's visa should be canceled, and elections are in May. This isn't about public health. It's always been about politics, and Alex Hawke acknowledged just that in court today.

Novak fights to the bitter end! I was mistaken; he has one last appeal. In the Federal Court of Australia before a different judge, it's the Immigration Minister v. Novak Djokovic, Saturday Jan 15 @10:15am. I don't see how he wins this, but I thought the same about the last hearing. I read that 83% of Australians think Novak should be deported. If by some miracle he wins tomorrow's hearing, expect a frosty reception for his R1 match Monday.

The thread holding up the sword of Damocles finally snapped. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke hit the eject button & canceled Novak's visa. Of course, the fanboy in me hoped that Hawke would just let this go, but I pretty much knew deportation was inevitable. Rules are rules. No matter how much you might disagree with them, if everybody else has to follow them, so do you. All the fallout from this decision is to be determined. I thought that if Novak's visa was canceled, he wouldn't be able to return for 3 years. Yikes! So the 9-time AO champion can't come back until 2025?? What happens to Craig Tiley? He was the one who told the players that prior infection in the last 6 months was sufficient for entry, which was obviously wrong, and since it's the AO who processes the player visas, the players had every reason to take his word for it. Novak's deportation leaves a hole in the men's draw you could drive a Mack truck through because Novak's quarter was pretty weak. The highest seed left is Matteo "no backhand" Berrettini. Other possible semifinalists are Monfils (2 Slam semis), Norrie (never gone deep at a major), and Carreño-Busta (2 Slam semis). Garín and Sonego are also seeded, but I'll be shocked if they get to the semi. I wouldn't be shocked if Carlos Alcaraz made it through, as crazy as it is to predict an 18yo Slam semifinalist. I bet #5 seed Rublev is pissed off that Hawke waited until after the draw was set because he could have avoided one of top 4 seeds until the semi. As it stands, he's slated to face his nemesis Medvedev in the quarters (he's 1-4 against Medvedev, although he won their last match). I have to wonder if this decision will be the straw to break Novak's anti-vaxx resolve. Macron said players don't need to be vaxxed, but Britain requires vaccination for entry & specifies that prior infection is insufficient, and the US requires it for travelers flying in. Novak plays only for the Slams nowadays, and he learned the hard way that as much as the tournament director wants him in the draw, the TD has no say in who's allowed past the border. PS: Novak plans to appeal, but this isn't a court matter. Since the decision to allow or cancel the visa was the sole discretion of the Immigration Minister, I don't know who Novak makes his appeal to.

Plenty on tennis Twitter are wondering the same thing. Clearly Novak had every intention of playing the AO given that he was working hard in the gym and on the practice court long before the positive test on Dec 16. No way does a player prepare with such intensity on the chance that he might test Covid-positive in the future but conveniently before the deadline. The more I read about this case, the less sense it makes. For now all I can say is I bet the 4 lawyers Novak hired for his visa case are working fast & furious to save his bacon.

I read the delay was only 75 minutes, but no matter. When was the last time a Slam draw ceremony was postponed? They always start on time because journalists and fans around the world are on the edge of their seat. Novak is in the draw, but Immigration Minister Alex Hawke can still exercise his right to deport Novak at any time. One tennis reporter wrote that AO Tournament Director Craig Tiley looked like he hadn't slept in a week. Probably not too far from the truth.

wut? In the many years I've been following tennis, I don't ever remember a Slam draw ceremony being postponed. They always go off like clockwork.

HardCockCafe.com

Ah, thanks for the clarification. If he knew he was Covid-positive yet still did the interview with L'Équipe, I don't think he should get raked over the coals for it. True, he should have canceled the interview & stayed home, but either the L'Équipe guys are vaccinated and have nothing to worry about or they're unvaccinated and have to chosen to accept a level of risk. In either case, they're adults, which PR-wise isn't nearly as damaging as infecting a bunch of children.

Timestamps don't lie. Looks like he's gonna need those 4 lawyers he just hired. I feel bad for Renata Voracova, a Czech doubles specialist who was allowed entry, even played a match, then was detained and deported. Since she's not super-rich like Novak, she couldn't hire a dream team of pricey lawyers to fight the visa cancellation. She just had to leave Australia.

Someone tweeted out video of 2 Channel 7 newscasters' brutally blunt opinion of Novak & his visa case. Well, if the prevailing public opinion is that Novak lied about his recent Covid exposure, that might actually work out for him in the end. Lying is bad, but knowing you're Covid-positive yet meeting & mingling with dozens of people is even worse, imo. PS: as for the ongoing saga, Novak hired 4 more lawyers for his visa case. Wow, Novak is certainly doing his part to boost the Australian economy.

This baffles me. The whole world knew of Novak's travels because his training in Marbella was all over social media. Why would he "forget" to mention it on his visa application?

If none of the current moderators read/write Spanish well enough to moderate a Spanish subforum, perhaps they could recruit someone. Plenty of forum members have Spanish good enough to moderate.

Even though I didn't understand a word, I preferred the original German version. Something about the English version just didn't sound right.

When I first used Google translate, the translations often didn't make sense. To see how accurate the translations were, I tried it with some Spanish, the only other language I can read. Eek! It was horrible! I haven't used any other translation apps.

I just saw a clip of a press conference with Novak's parents and his brother Djordje. First when Djordje was asked about Novak's medical documentation, he insisted it was all valid, to the point where the Australian government's lawyer never challenged it during the hearing. Then when a German reporter asked if Novak knew he was positive, why did Novak attend a large children's event the next day, Djordje responded, "This press conference is adjourned." Heads the government wins, tails Novak loses. While the Aussie government's lawyer never questioned the positive test, plenty of people are wondering if it was forged. If Novak admits it was, then not only is he instantly deported, he faces perjury charges. If the positive test is legit (note that Novak took the test @1pm on 12/16, knew the result 7 hours later according to court documents), then Novak faces a public relations disaster. Children aren't really at risk from Covid. The problem is they bring the virus home and expose their parents and more critically grandparents. Apparently that was a problem with Novak's Adria Tour. A lot of young people were infected, most likely at the nightclub where all the tennis players were partying, brought the virus home, and infected whole multigenerational households. Even if Novak did indeed forge the positive test, I doubt he'll ever admit it. After all, who in their right mind wants to face a perjury charge. So now Novak has to deal with this looming PR catastrophe. Honestly, even if Novak makes the most heartfelt apology, while people will respect his taking responsibility, he will face a backlash like nothing he, nor any other tennis player for that matter, has ever seen.

When I fired up the tablet, a notification popped up, "Novak wins visa case." Hmm, that can't be right, lemme check. Tennis.com's top story: Novak wins visa appeal Men's Tennis Forum can be a lousy source for news because most forum members have such a strong bias (3 warring factions: Roger, Rafa, Novak), but the thread about the hearing was accurate. The die-hards watching the proceeding kept commenting that Novak's lawyers were winning whereas the government's lawyer was making weak, unconvincing arguments. I assumed those were just Novak fanboys seeing what they wanted to see, but whaddya know. Judge Anthony Kelly ruled that Novak won on a procedural fairness issue because the government canceled Novak's visa without allowing Novak enough time to respond. The catch is that the state of Victoria says that prior infection within the last 6 months is acceptable for entry whereas the Australian federal government says it isn't. So the Immigration Minister Alex Hawke still has grounds to cancel Novak's visa. The question is whether it would be politically wise for him to do so. In Novak's favor, when the government lawyer said the Immigration Minister planned to appeal, Judge Kelly warned him not to. Since the government was ordered to pay all Novak's legal fees (you know he hired the best lawyers money can buy), an appeal might be a waste of even more taxpayer dollars. The MTF guys are saying that Anthony Kelly would preside over the appeal as well. If the government ignores him and appeals anyway and certainly if Kelly is the presiding judge, the appeal will be over before it starts.

I found a Twitter thread posted by a retired immigration lawyer who confirms what I've suspected all along, that Novak's chances of winning entry into Australia are somewhere between zero and zilch.

Here is a clip of a Brian Boitano interview. Before hitting play, you might want to put a lead apron over your gaydar just in case.

It was meant as a joke. But if you don't know Brian Boitano, you won't get it.

Wow, Serbia's president has made Novel's entry into Australia his personal mission: "I've just finished my telephone conversation with Novak Djokovic," Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic posted on Instagram. "I told our Novak that the whole of Serbia is with him and that our bodies are doing everything to see that the harassment of the world's best tennis player is brought to an end immediately. In line with all norms of international law, Serbia will fight for Novak, truth and justice."