Novak Djokovic’s loss in a court of law is also a loss for the Australian Open, a loss for tennis fans and a loss for the sport as a whole. Setting aside…
Novak Djokovic’s loss in a court of law is also a loss for the Australian Open, a loss for tennis fans and a loss for the sport as a whole. Setting aside, for a moment, everything that led to his deportation from Australia on Sunday — a fundamentally hard-to-fathom reason for any athlete to be forced to sit out any event — who wouldn’t want to see the player who dominated men’s Grand Slam tennis in 2021 competing for what would be a historic title to begin 2022? Unaccustomed to defeats on a big stage, especially lately, he could have pursued his 10th trophy at Melbourne Park, which would break his own record, and his 21st overall from all major championships, which would break the men’s mark he shares with Rafael Nadal (who is in Australia) and Roger Federer (who is not, following knee surgery). Instead, when play begins in Australia on Monday (Sunday in the U.S.),2009 winner Nadal, as it turns out, will be the only past Australian Open champ in the 128-player men’s field. And 150th-ranked Salvatore Caruso, a 29-year-old from Italy who is on a four-match losing streak in Grand Slam main-draw play and failed to get through qualifying in Melbourne, will be on the line in the bracket where No.1 Djokovic stood until Sunday’s Federal Court decision. Less than 18 hours before the start of the tournament, a three-judge panel unanimously upheld a government minister’s right to cancel Djokovic’s visa, ending his last-ditch effort to be able to play and bringing a close to what the ATP Tour rightly called “a deeply regrettable series of events.
