Australian Open keeps Djokovic and assigns him Serbian first-round opponent

Everything surrounding the Australian Open is marked by the Novak Djokovic case. The Serbian tennis player has got himself into a problem that goes beyond sport and puts Serbia's relations with Australia itself at risk. 

On 13 January the organisers of the Australian Open decided to hold the draw for the first round pairings. It started an hour late, but there was no explanation and rumours suggested that they were waiting for Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to make an earlier pronouncement on Djokovic's possible deportation. 

Destiny had set up a Serbian clash between Djokovic (1) and Miomir Kecmanovic (78) in a first ATP match-up on 17 January on Rod Laver Court. Until then, the Minister for Immigration can decide what to do with the wayward Novak, who has revolutionised Melbourne with his stance on the coronavirus. 

There is a lot of pressure around this decision because the Australian authorities were the ones who allowed the medical exemption for the tennis player to enter the country and then detained and interrogated him for eight hours. It was the customs officers' manner that led the judge to allow Djokovic to leave the refugee hotel and train on the courts at Melbourne Park. 

As a result, a series of events unfolded that have put the Serbian athlete in serious difficulties. He may have even lied on his declaration of entry into the country and he himself has acknowledged that there may have been "human errors" on his entry form. He also claimed to have attended an interview in Belgrade knowing that he was suffering from COVID. Another fact that has prompted Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic to warn her compatriot that failure to comply with the quarantine would be a "serious violation" of the country's laws.

To all this, we must add the suspicions that have been raised by the German press, which followed up on the results of the COVID-19 tests, in which a serious alteration of days and hours can be seen. It is suggested that the Serbian Institute of Public Health presented the negative result earlier and then the positive result on 26 December and not on 16 December as reported. 

As if that were not enough, everything surrounding the mystery about Djokovic's coronavirus has spilled over into Spain, which has also opened an investigation to find out how the tennis player entered the country to train in Marbella in the last days of 2021. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is wondering how the Serb arrived at the Puente Romano Tennis Club in Marbella to train on 2 and 3 January. The only grounds for a person to enter with exemptions is if they are considered highly skilled workers or are participating in high level sporting events or are unable to perform their work elsewhere. None of this seems to affect Djokovic who was required to have a full vaccination certificate to enter Spain as a Serbian citizen. 

Everything points to the fact that private flights landing at Spanish airports are not checked as zealously as they should be in times of pandemic. That may have been the select safe-conduct that put Djokovic on Spanish soil and, from there, to Australia where he claimed not to have previously visited the Iberian peninsula in yet another lie. 

The Australian Open is in the Serb's interest to stay in contention because it would mean winning his 10th title and the 21st Grand Slam of his career. To all this must be added a possible final with Nadal because the draw has separated their paths until 30 January. And it remains to be seen how he will be received by the public after the madness that broke out in the streets calling for his release by anti-vaccine groups.

The problem with Novak Djokovic is such that even Australia's prime minister, Scott Morrison, sided with him, commenting that the decision on the tennis player's visa rested with the immigration minister and that he preferred not to comment.