AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Australian Open: Djokovic wins court case, Australian judge orders release from detention
An Australian judge ruled on Monday (Jan 10) that Novak Djokovic be released from immigration detention, finding the government’s decision to revoke the tennis star’s visa to enter the country was “unreasonable”.
Judge Anthony Kelly ordered Djokovic be released within 30 minutes and his passport and other travel documents returned to him, rekindling the world No. 1’s chance to win a record 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, which starts next Monday.
However, lawyers for the federal government told the court the country’s immigration minister was reserving the right to exercise his personal power to again revoke Djokovic’s visa.
Djokovic, 34, has been held in an immigration detention hotel alongside long-term asylum seeker detainees since Thursday. He was permitted to attend his lawyers’ chambers for the virtual hearings but has not been seen in public since he arrived in Australia.
His lawyers argued that a recent Covid-19 infection qualified Djokovic for the medical exemption from a requirement for non-Australian citizens entering the country to be double vaccinated.
The Australian government, however, said non-citizens had no right of guaranteed entry to Australia, questioned his claimed exemption and stressed that even if Djokovic wins the court action, it reserved the right to detain him again and remove him from the country.
A government lawyer warned Australia may yet use ministerial powers to order Djokovic’s removal from the country, which would result in him being banned for three years.
With the Australian government facing a humiliating and high profile defeat, lawyer Christopher Tran informed the judge that immigration minister Alex Hawke may step in with executive powers.
“I’m instructed (the minister) will consider whether to exercise a personal power of cancellation,” he said.
After confirming that such a step, if taken, would bar Djokovic from the country for three years, Kelly warned the government lawyers that “the stakes have now risen, rather than receded.”
Hawke’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kelly said he had quashed the government decision to cancel Djokovic’s visa because the player was not given enough time to speak to tennis organisers and lawyers to respond fully after he was notified of the intent to cancel his visa.
Kelly noted that officials at Melbourne’s airport made the player switch off his phone from midnight to around 7.42am local time, when the decision to cancel his visa was made.
Officials also reneged on an agreement to give Djokovic until 8.30am to speak to tournament organiser Tennis Australia and lawyers, the judge said.
Djokovic was instead woken up by officials at around 6am after a brief rest and said he felt pressured to respond.
The player, a long-term vocal opponent of mandatory vaccination, told border officials he was unvaccinated and had had Covid-19 twice, according to a transcript of the interview.
Kelly earlier told the court it appeared Djokovic had sought and received the required medical exemption from Covid-19 vaccination on the basis that he had contracted the virus last month. He had presented evidence of this before he travelled to Melbourne and when he landed last Wednesday evening (Jan 5).
“What more could this man have done?” Kelly said.
Kelly’s ruling did not directly address the issue of whether the exemption on the grounds of an infection in the past six months was valid, which the government had disputed.
Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said earlier that his organisation had spoken with federal and state officials for months to ensure the safe passage of players.
Tennis Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It was not immediately clear if the ruling would affect Czech player Renata Voracova, who was detained in the same hotel as Djokovic after having her visa revoked after issues with her vaccine exemption.
Voracova left the country on Friday without challenging her status, the Czech Foreign Ministry said.
Djokovic’s case had caused anger in Australia, where more than 90 per cent of the adult population is double vaccinated and public opinion has been largely against the player.
Emotions run particularly high in Melbourne, which experienced the world’s longest cumulative lockdown.
The country’s Covid-19 cases surpassed one million on Monday (Jan 10), with more than half of them recorded in the past week, driving up hospitalisation numbers, straining supply chains and overloading testing facilities.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd accused current leader Scott Morrison’s centre-right coalition government of bungling the situation.
“Total incompetence! If they seriously didn’t want him, why on earth did they give him a visa to fly here?” Rudd said. “This was conceived as one giant distraction strategy when out in the real world people can’t get tested.”
The saga kicked off when Djokovic posted a photo of himself leaning on his luggage on Instagram last Tuesday (Jan 4), telling the world he was headed to Australia to compete in the Open with a vaccination exemption.
Photographs published on social media showed him appearing at public functions in Serbia in the days after he tested positive on Dec 16. It was not clear if Djokovic knew of his positive test at the time.
-Reuters
Australian Open champion Carlos Alcaraz said capturing all four Grand Slam titles at 22 had not diminished his desire, and while plenty remains on his to‑do list, he will not pile pressure on himself to chase a clean sweep of the majors this year.
Alcaraz celebrated becoming the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam by overhauling Novak Djokovic 2-6 6-2 6-3 7-5 at a floodlit Rod Laver Arena on Sunday and will look to return to the finals of the other majors this year.
The Spaniard beat Jannik Sinner in an epic French Open final last year to defend his title, before surrendering his Wimbledon crown to the Italian and capping their trilogy of major meetings by unseating him at the U.S. Open for a sixth Grand Slam trophy.
“It’s going to be a big challenge,” Alcaraz told reporters when asked about gunning for all four Grand Slam titles in the same year.
“Those are big words, to be honest. I just want it to be one at a time. Right now, the next one is the French Open, and I have great memories of that tournament. I feel really special every time that I go there.
“I don’t want to put myself in a really pressure position to have to do it, but it’s going to be great. Right now, I’ll try to be ready, to work hard, to just recover and practice well to play a good tournament in the next Grand Slam.”
Alcaraz said he had plenty of motivation for the rest of a year that has begun superbly after an emotional roller-coaster in pre-season, during which he split with long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.
“There are some tournaments that I really want to win at least once. A few Masters 1000s. I just really want to complete all the Masters 1000,” Alcaraz said.
“Obviously, the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup are goals as well. I really want to achieve that for Spain. I’ve set up some other goals for the season, and I’ll try to be ready for, or to try to get those goals.”
Alcaraz’s immediate focus will be on getting a tattoo to mark his Melbourne Park triumph.
He has commemorated previous major wins with body art – a strawberry for Wimbledon, the Eiffel Tower for the French Open, the date of his first U.S. Open title and after his second in New York, the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.
“I’ve said it’s going to be a kangaroo, for sure,” the seven-time Grand Slam champion added.
“It’s going to be in the leg, for sure … I don’t know the right, the left one. So I got to choose a good spot, but it’s going to be close to the French Open or Wimbledon.”
-Reuters
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Elena Rybakina delivered a thunderous display to dismantle firm favourite Aryna Sabalenka and win a maiden Australian Open title on Saturday, turning the tables on the world number one in their Melbourne Park final rematch from three years ago.
Rybakina returned to the site of her 2023 defeat to complete an impressive 6‑4 4‑6 6-4 win and capture her second major trophy after Wimbledon 2022, underlining her credentials as the player best equipped to further puncture Sabalenka’s hardcourt aura.
The Moscow-born Kazakh capped a fortnight of relentless efficiency, largely flying under the radar and adding the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup to a sparkling resume which also includes the WTA Finals crown she won by stunning Sabalenka last year.
“It’s an incredible achievement,” said the 26-year-old, who will rise to number three in the world rankings on Monday behind Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.
“I’m super happy and proud. It was a really tough battle. I didn’t expect to turn it around. I got some opportunities.
“Aryna is a very tough opponent, but I’m super happy that this time I’m holding the trophy.”
ALL GUNS BLAZING
In the first Grand Slam final since 2008 featuring players yet to drop a set, it was top seed Sabalenka who blinked first under the Rod Laver Arena roof as Rybakina came out all guns blazing to break in the opening game and take control.
The fifth seed’s booming ball-striking caused all sorts of problems for twice champion Sabalenka, as Rybakina comfortably got to set point in the 10th game and finished it in style to send alarm bells ringing in her opponent’s dugout.
Arriving with 46 hardcourt Grand Slam match victories from the last 48, four-times major winner Sabalenka found her groove and began the second set more positively, but Rybakina saved three breakpoints to hold for 1-1.
A wayward forehand from Rybakina handed Sabalenka the chance to level at one set apiece, and the Belarusian gleefully took it to turn the final set into a shootout destined to be decided by whichever player held their nerve.
Having beaten Rybakina from a similar situation in the 2023 title clash, Sabalenka unleashed a flurry of winners to go ahead 3-0, but the Kazakh erased the deficit and broke for 4-3 before securing victory to add to her All England club triumph.
The knockout blow was a thumping ace, following which the typically restrained Rybakina walked forward, smiled and pumped her fist before hugging her opponent and then celebrating with her team in the dugout.
Only a year ago at Melbourne Park, Rybakina was defending her coach Stefano Vukov, who had a provisional ban lifted by the WTA in August following an investigation into a potential breach of its code of conduct. The coach has denied any wrongdoing.
HONEST PEP TALK
Vukov gave Rybakina a brutally honest pep talk after she trailed by three games in Saturday’s decider, telling her she showed “no energy” in the games that preceded her comeback.
“I want to say thank you to my team. Without you, it wouldn’t be possible,” said Rybakina, a player transformed since the tail end of last season with 14 victories from her last 15 matches.
“We had a lot of things going on, and I’m glad we achieved this result. Hopefully, we can keep going strong this year.”
Rybakina’s latest triumph will further boost the profile of tennis in Kazakhstan, which she began representing in 2018 after being offered financial support.
Sabalenka, denied a Melbourne Park “three-peat” by American outsider Madison Keys in last year’s final, endured the pain of defeat again, and she retreated to her chair and draped a towel over her head to conceal her anguish.
“She played an incredible match, and I tried my very best,” Sabalenka told reporters later.
“I was fighting until the very last point.
“I had my opportunities. It feels like I missed a couple, but I mean, it’s tennis. Today you’re a loser; tomorrow you’re a winner. Hopefully, I’ll be more of a winner than a loser this season. I’m hoping right now and praying.”
-Reuters
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- Summary
- Djokovic aiming for sole ownership of Grand Slam title record
- Serb would become oldest winner of a major title with victory over Alcaraz
- Spain’s Alcaraz bidding to become youngest men’s player to win all four major
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz meet in Sunday’s Australian Open final with history in the balance, as the Serbian great chases a record 25th Grand Slam title and the Spanish dynamo bids to become the youngest man to win all four majors.
Modern men’s tennis has not lacked for champions pushing for the next frontier of greatness but the stakes have rarely been higher in a single match.
With 24 major trophies and a record 10 at Melbourne Park, Djokovic’s legacy is already secure.
Few can argue there have been better players to grace the men’s game.
And yet Djokovic’s record remains bracketed with Australian icon Margaret Court, who also won 24 titles in the women’s game, including 13 in the amateur era.
With different eras, opponents and technology, their records are as comparable as apples and oranges — but fourth seed Djokovic has long craved the elusive 25th title to take top spot alone.
Clinching it at Melbourne Park, where he claimed his first major trophy in 2008, would be a fitting coup de grace for a 20-year career at the top.
Having taken Ken Rosewall’s record as the oldest man to reach the final by beating defending champion Jannik Sinner, Djokovic can top the Australian again as the oldest to win any Grand Slam title.
SERBIAN FANATICS
No other man has dominated Melbourne like Djokovic, who has hoisted the trophy four times more than the next-best duo of Roy Emerson and Roger Federer.
The success has spoilt the city’s strong Serbian community who reliably turn up in droves and bring football-like fanaticism to centre court and its surrounds.
Djokovic’s dominance has not meant universal adulation from all at Melbourne Park in a country which, incredibly, once detained and deported him for not being vaccinated for COVID-19.
But judging by the deafening cheers at Rod Laver Arena on Friday when he knocked out Italian Sinner in a five-set classic, plenty of fans will be in the fourth-seeded Serb’s corner.
He may need all their support as he looks to scale another Everest against world number one Alcaraz.
The 22-year-old Spaniard has had Melbourne on his mind since winning his second U.S. Open title last year.
He said he would gladly trade winning the three other majors this year if it meant hoisting the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup alone at the end of Sunday’s final.
With two trophies at each of the French Open, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows, victory over Djokovic would make Alcaraz the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam, eclipsing Don Budge, who wrapped up his at the 1938 French Open two days before his 23rd birthday.
He would also become the first men’s player under 23 to win seven Grand Slam titles, a tally that eluded Djokovic until he was 27.
Remarkably for such a young career, Alcaraz has already racked up a slew of classic matches against Djokovic, who holds a 5-4 record against him.
They have both inflicted bruising defeats, with Alcaraz denying Djokovic in back-to-back Wimbledon finals in 2023-24 and the Serb snatching the gold medal in the Paris Olympic final.
While Djokovic knocked Alcaraz out of last year’s Australian Open quarter-finals, he was well-beaten the last time they faced on a Grand Slam hardcourt, losing 6-4 7-6(4) 6-2 in the U.S. Open semis.
Both enter Sunday’s final after taxing, five-setters.
Alcaraz struggled with a cramp before edging third seed Alexander Zverev in five hours and 27 minutes, the tournament’s longest-ever semi-final.
Djokovic needed a bit over four hours to see off Sinner.
Facing a man who will turn 39 in a few months, Alcaraz should be better equipped to handle a long slog.
With 18 fewer Grand Slam titles than Djokovic, he should be more hungry than the Serb.
Boasting incredible athleticism and arguably the game’s purest shot-making, he should have faith that his talents will get the job done.
But try telling that to 24-year-old Sinner, whose hopes of a fifth Grand Slam title were crushed in the fifth set on Friday as Djokovic gave him a pummeling from the baseline.
Like Rafa Nadal at the French Open, there is something magical beneath Rod Laver Arena’s blue centre court that only Djokovic can mine.
In all 10 of his previous finals, he has never exited without the trophy.
Alcaraz will fight to avoid joining the ranks of forlorn challengers who leave Melbourne Park feeling that destiny and Djokovic have conspired against them.
-Reuters
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