‘There’s no question this is going to hit Novak Djokovic hard’, says legend
The Australian Open 2022 was marred by the soap opera linked to Novak Djokovic’s visa. The number 1 in the world tried to enter Australia with a regular medical exemption, but he found himself having to manage a situation he was not in the least prepared for.
Although the Serbian won the first appeal before Judge Anthony Kelly, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke decided to exercise his discretion for reasons of public order. The three federal court judges confirmed the visa revocation order and Nole was forced to leave the country on Sunday.
The 34-year-old from Belgrade was unable to defend his title at the Australian Open, a tournament that crowned him nine times. In the event of a tenth triumph at Melbourne Park, Djokovic would have overtaken Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the all-time Grand Slam standings.
As a direct consequence of the exercise of ministerial power, Novak could be barred from entering Australia for three years. To Eurosport’s microphones, seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe called the whole story ridiculous.
John McEnroe on Djokovic’s saga
“Novak Djokovic’s as tough as they come ever on a tennis court, mentally,” McEnroe began. “Remember a couple years ago [in 2016] when he fell off the map. He had won four [Slams] in a row and the next thing you know for a year and a half or so he couldn’t beat anyone.
All of a sudden he came back and he was better than ever. He has made it somewhat more difficult for himself by not getting vaccinated. So that has complicated things obviously as he tries to go and defend titles that he won [last year]”.
Moving onto the subject of Djokovic’s position emotionally and in the eyes of the fans, McEnroe expanded as follows. “There’s no question this is going to hit him hard. This is really unfortunate for a guy who had worked so hard to be loved.
It’s tough to be loved and I know about times when people are against you. But deep down, we want to be loved! When he…
Source : tennisworldusa
