A year without a few days later, the story is completely different for Novak Djokovic at the start of the new tennis season.
He arrived in Australia this evening, entered the country without a hitch on the visa he received automatically because of his invitation and quota to participate in the Australian open, and is already in his hotel in Adelaide.
On January 1, his matches of the ATP 250 category tournament will start in this city, where his big competitors will be Felix Ogi-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and other top players.
Djokovic was barred from the country and taken to a hotel for illegal immigrants a year ago when he arrived for warm-up tournaments before the Australian open. The reason – he was not vaccinated against coronavirus, which according to the laws of the country at that time did not give him the right to enter it. The saga then displaced all other front page news by running for a week.
And in the end, Djokovic was deported, did not play in Melbourne and failed to defend his title.
The ban on the Serbian tennis ace from entering Australia was until 2025, but Minister Andrew Giles, who signed it in January 2022, lifted it at the end of November this year.
So today Nole arrived and settled in Adelaide without any problems.
“I hope that the fans here will receive Djokovic very warmly, as he deserves – commented on the news Craig Tiley, director of the Australian open. – We welcome him to Australia. What happened in the past stays there. At least that’s how it is I hope so. Novak is the player everyone in Melbourne expects to see on the court. He’s a nine-time champion, that says it all.”
Djokovic is looking to equalize the Grand Slam titles at the top of the rankings, where he currently trails Rafa Nadal 21 to 22. The first Slam tournament of the year – the one in Melbourne – starts on January 16.
