Melbourne: Men’s tennis World No.1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic was included in the 2022 Australian Open draw despite the country’s government’s decision to refuse the Serb’s visa for the second time.
For his first round match, the top seeded Serb will face fellow unseeded Serb Miomir Kecmanovic expected to play on Monday or Tuesday.
Tennis Australia, the event’s organiser, has unexpectedly delayed the official draw by almost an hour. On the other hand, Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke tend to ponder using his discretionary powers to cancel Djokovic’s visa, potentially jeopardizing the Serbian superstar’s push for a record 21st major tennis championship and a tenth at Melbourne Park.
While an Australian court permitted him to remain in the nation on Monday, Djokovic’s case was harmed when he acknowledged meeting individuals after testing positive for Covid-19 in December and blamed human error for errors in his Australian entrance paperwork in a long statement.
Last week, Djokovic, a vaccine skeptic, sparked outrage in Australia by announcing that he would be traveling to Melbourne for the Australian Open with a medical exemption from the need that visitors be immunized against COVID-19.
Djokovic when landed in Australia, Australian Border Force officers determined that his exemption was illegal, and he was kept in an immigration detention hotel for several days among asylum seekers.
