Djokovic’s Serb fans are on edge as Australia hearing set to start
Novak Djokovic’s parents joined a protest rally in downtown Belgrade with their tennis-great son still in an Australian immigration detention hotel as fans of Djokovic in Serbia nervously awaited a crucial court hearing which could decide whether he can play at the Australian Open.
The virtual hearing began earlier today in Melbourne, with Djokovic appealing his visa cancellation amid a growing public debate over his positive coronavirus test that his lawyers used as grounds in applying for a medical exemption to Australia’s strict vaccination rules.
The top-ranked Serb, who hopes to defend his title at the Australian Open and win a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title, was denied entry when he arrived at Melbourne’s airport on Wednesday and was awaiting the court hearing to challenge his deportation.
Djokovic’s lawyers filed 35 pages of submissions in which they outlined 11 grounds of appeal. They described the decision to cancel the visa as illogical and unreasonable.
The Australian Open begins Jan. 17 — just a week from Djokovic’s court date.
The case has polarized opinions around the world and elicited heartfelt support for the tennis star in his native Serbia.
“Today is a big day. Today, the whole world will hear the truth,” Djokovic’s mother, Dijana Djokovic, told the crowd on Sunday in downtown Belgrade.
“We hope that Novak will come out as a free man. We send great love to Novak. We believe in him, but also in the independent judiciary in Melbourne,” she said.
Djokovic’s father, Srdjan Djokovic, said “this is happening because we are only a small part of the world, but we are proud people.
“They can’t break us. Novak is the personification of freedom, everything human that one man contains in himself. Shame on them!”
Dijana Djokovic said that the conditions in the hotel in Melbourne where Djokovic is staying are “not humane.”
“He doesn’t even have breakfast,” she said. “He has a wall to stare at and he can’t even see a park in front or go out of the room.”
Australian officials initially said Djokovic, a vocal skeptic of vaccines who has refused to say if he has gotten the COVID-19 shot, would be given an exemption to stringent vaccine rules by state authorities and be able to participate in the Australian Open. But when he landed, his visa was canceled by federal border officials.
The exemption request said Djokovic’s first positive test was Dec. 16 and, on the date of issue, it said the 34-year-old player “had not had a fever or respiratory symptoms in the past 72 hours.”
Social media is swamped with questions over Djokovic’s whereabouts after the alleged positive COVID-19 test amid a surge of the pandemic.
Djokovic attended two public events on Dec. 16 in Belgrade, as well as a Dec. 17 event in the Serbian capital honoring young tennis players. The event was covered by local media, and parents posted photos on social media showing Djokovic and the children not wearing masks. It’s not clear if Djokovic knew the results of his test at the time.
BARTY WINS IN ADELAIDE, NADAL IN MELBOURNE >> Top-ranked Ash Barty won her second Adelaide International title in three years with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Elena Rybakina. Rafael Nadal also added another title to his illustrious career, capturing at least one ATP title for the 19th consecutive year.
The top-seeded Nadal beat American Maxime Cressy, 7-6 (6), 6-3 at Melbourne in one of six tournaments this week ahead of the Australian Open.
The Adelaide win improved Barty’s record against top-20 rivals to 17-1 since the beginning of 2021.
Barty also beat Coco Gauff, 2020 Australian Open champion Sofin Kenin and 2020 French Open winner Iga Swiatek en route to her 14th WTA tournament win.
Barty is scheduled to play the Sydney Tennis Classic next week before the Australian Open begins on Jan. 17.
In a WTA tournament at Melbourne, American Amanda Anisimova beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 to win her second WTA title. CANADA WINS ATP CUP BY DEFEATING SPAIN >> Felix Auger-Aliassime clinched the ATP Cup title for Canada with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 singles victory over Roberto Bautista Agut to give his country an insurmountable 2-0 lead against Spain in Australia.
Denis Shapovalov opened the match for Canada with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Pablo Carreno Busta.
Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov won a deciding doubles against Russia on Saturday in the semifinals to knock out the defending champions. And with the title on the line, they played their best tennis to defeat two-time finalists Spain.
Auger-Aliassime saved 10 of the 11 break points he faced and had 15 aces.
Shapovalov had lost four of five previous matches against Carreno Busta.
Golf
SMITH SETS PGA TOUR RECORD, EDGES RAHM >> No one ever finished a PGA Tour more shots under par than Cameron Smith, and he needed every one of them to outlast Jon Rahm and win the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
In the best scoring conditions Kapalua has seen in the 24 times it has hosted the winners-only start to the new year, Smith was relentless all the day down to the 3-foot birdie putt he made on the 18th hole for an 8-under 65 and a oneshot victory.
Smith finished at 34-under 258, a tournament record by three shots. Ernie Els won at 31 under in 2003, and that was the PGA Tour record for shots under par.
Three players beat that in this surreal week on the western edge of Maui.
“Unreal round,” Smith said. “Something I’ll never forget.”
Not only did he smash the record, the Australian went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 player in the world on the weekend and pipped him by a single shot.
Matt Jones of Australia finished third at at 32-under 260.
Until this week, only three players had ever finished a 72-hole event at 30 under or lower — Els in 2003, Jordan Spieth at Kapalua in 2016 and Dustin Johnson at rainsoaked Liberty National in 2020.
Smith picked up his fourth PGA Tour victory — two were team titles in New Orleans — and became the sixth player to have won at both Hawaii stops on the PGA Tour. He won the Sony Open in Honolulu two years ago in a playoff.
Speedskating
JACKSON HEADED TO OLYMPICS, THANKS TO BOWE >> Erin Jackson is heading to the Beijing Olympics thanks to Brittany Bowe. Bowe has given up her spot in the 500 meters, allowing Jackson — ranked No. 1 in the world in the 500 — to make the U.S. team, according to a report on USA Network. Jackson slipped in her race Friday at the U.S. trials in Milwaukee and finished third in the event she has dominated this season.
Bowe won the 500 and Kimi Goetz took second to earn the two available Olympic spots.
The rules didn’t allow for Jackson to have a re-skate — only a mechanical failure or a fall are reason for a do-over.
In November in Poland, Jackson became the first Black woman to win a World Cup event. She won four of eight 500 races on the World Cup circuit.