AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Australia leaves door open for Djokovic to play at next year’s Australian Open
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has left the door open for Novak Djokovic to compete at next year’s Australian Open despite the tennis superstar facing an automatic three-year ban from entering the country.
The world number one player left Australia late on Sunday after the Federal Court upheld a government decision to cancel his visa, capping days of drama over the country’s COVID-19 entry rules and his unvaccinated status.
Under immigration law, Djokovic cannot be granted another visa for three years unless Australia’s immigration minister accepts there are compelling or compassionate reasons.
“I’m not going to precondition any of that or say anything that would not enable the minister to make the various calls he has to make,” Morrison told 2GB radio on Monday as Djokovic was en route to Dubai.
“It does go over a three-year period, but there is the opportunity for (a person) to return in the right circumstances, and that will be considered at the time.”
The unanimous ruling by a three-judge Federal Court bench dealt a final blow to Djokovic’s hopes of chasing a record 21st Grand Slam win at the Australian Open, which starts on Monday, dismaying his family and supporters.
In a rollercoaster ride, the world’s top men’s player was first detained by immigration authorities on Jan. 6, ordered released by a court on Jan. 10 and then detained again on Saturday pending Sunday’s court hearing.
Djokovic, 34, said he was extremely disappointed by the ruling but he respected the court’s decision.
“I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me and I hope that we can all now focus on the game and the tournament I love,” Djokovic said in a statement before flying out of Melbourne.
The player was filmed by Reuters wearing a mask and taking selfies with fans at the arrival gate in Dubai as he waited for his entourage to follow him off the plane.
Djokovic was escorted by airline staff on a terminal buggy to the departure gate for a flight a few hours later to Belgrade. He checked in alone for the six-hour flight.
The saga caused a row between Canberra and Belgrade, with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic calling the court decision “scandalous”.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Monday that she and Morrison had been in touch with Brnabic during the legal process last week.
“I am absolutely confident that the very positive relationship, bilateral relationship between Australia and Serbia will continue on the strong footing that it currently enjoys,” Payne told reporters.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke had said Djokovic could be a threat to public order because his presence would encourage anti-vaccination sentiment amidst Australia’s worst coronavirus outbreak.
The Federal Court judges noted their ruling was based on the lawfulness and legality of the minister’s decision but did not address “the merits or wisdom” of the decision. They have yet to release the full reasoning behind their decision.
POLITICAL TOUCHSTONE
The Serbian tennis player’s visa troubles fuelled global debate over the rights of people who decline to get vaccinated as governments take measures to protect people from the two-year pandemic.
Djokovic had been granted a visa to enter Australia, with a COVID-19 infection on Dec. 16 providing the basis for a medical exemption from Australia’s requirements that all visitors be vaccinated. The exemption was organised via Tennis Australia and the Victoria state government.
That exemption prompted widespread anger in Australia, which has undergone some of the world’s toughest COVID-19 lockdowns and where more than 90% of adults are vaccinated.
The controversy became a political touchstone for Morrison as he prepares for an election due by May, amid wrangling over responsibility between his centre-right federal coalition government and the centre-left Victoria state government.
Morrison on Monday defended his handling of the situation and differentiated Djokovic’s case from vaccine sceptics within his own government.
“If you’re someone coming from overseas, and there are conditions for you to enter this country, then you have to comply with them,” he said. “This is about someone who sought to come to Australia and not comply with the entry rules at our border.”
The men’s tennis governing body ATP said the decision “marks the end of a deeply regrettable series of events”, adding it respected the decision, a comment echoed by Tennis Australia.
On the tennis circuit, fellow players have become impatient for the media circus to end.
“The situation has not been good all round for anyone. It feels everything here happened extremely last minute and that’s why it became such a mess,” said former world number one Andy Murray.
-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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