Kyrigos has point in crazy trial of Djokovic
It’s the devil’s dalliance down under. Fighting out of one corner you have FoMo ScoMo and the cruel mangle of Aussie bureaucracy. In the other corner, ducking and diving, is Novak Djokovic, a tone deaf egotist whose parents seem to think he is the Messiah.
And not for the first time, it took Nick Kyrgios to help us make up our minds on this one. The world seemed to think that Kyrgios wouldn’t be able to resist taking a swing at Djokovic as so often in the past, but the world was crazy. Krygios was always going to rail against authority. It’s in his DNA and so it should be at his age.
So Kyrgios sided with Djokovic, eloquently and beautifully, when he posted: ‘‘At the end of the day, he is human. Do better.’’
So strange as it may seem, our compassion started to flow towards the Serb. Anyone who has suffered the inhumane and casual cruelty of the bulletheads on the border, something the Americans specialise in, will have empathised with Djokovic. He was clearly being made a political example of.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison just about admitted that when he said, ‘‘When you get people making public statements, of what they say they have and what they are going to do and what their claims are, they draw significant attention to themselves. Anyone who does that – whether they are a celebrity, a politician, a tennis player, a journalist, whoever does that – they can expect to be asked questions more than others before you. That is how Border Force works. They are not singled out at all.’’
That is a typical piece of ScoMo garbage. He takes 68 words of political smugness to explain why Djokovic was singled out. And then says that he was not singled out at all. Welcome to the Circumlocution Office of Australia.
Because, of course, Djokovic has been singled out. But then that is his life story. He is separate. And at times he also seems to be horribly aloof. This is one of the reasons crowds have struggled to embrace him. But then just as we wanted to give the man a warm, compassionate embrace, his parents spoke up.
His Dad said: ‘‘Jesus was crucified and endured many things but is still alive among us. Novak is also crucified ... the best sportsman and man in the world. He will endure.’’
Ooh, and there was more from Srdan: ‘‘My son is the new world’s Spartacus, who will not tolerate injustice, colonialism and hypocrisy. He is imprisoned but has never been freer. He has become the symbol and the leader of the free world, the leader of the world of the nations and of poor and needy people.’’
Is it any wonder that so many tennis stars are dysfunctional egomaniacs with parents like this. Come on, dad, at least make a choice. Who is Novak’s alter ego? Jesus or Spartacus?
At least Earl Woods narrowed down the omnipotence of his son when he spoke of being personally selected by God to nurture a young man who would have more impact that Mandela or Gandhi, a miracle worker, the bridge between east and west, the Chosen One with the power to impact nations.
By the way, that wasn’t comic hyperbole. I could just about have put all those words into quotation marks. That’s how nutty some of these sports parents are. And of all sports, tennis seems to be the biggest mansion in Nutville.
There’s John Tomic who headbutted his son’s practice partner and broke his nose; the father of Mary Pierce who made her life ‘‘hell on earth’’ and forced her to take out a restraining order on him; the money-mad fathers of Jennifer Capriati and Steffi Graf, mad Damir Dokic, the father of Jelena. Even Richard Williams, the subject of a new film, was not exactly balanced in the way he brought up his daughters.
So although our initial reaction is to turn away from Novak when we hear the crazy talk of his father, maybe we should in fact turn closer towards him. So many sports stars missed the normal love and nurture of caring parents when growing up that their need now is even greater.
So perhaps we should have given a little cheer when Djokovic was released yesterday. I know he doesn’t make it easy. There is a strong suspicion in most of us that Djokovic gamed the system in order to get into Australia. He doesn’t want to get vaccinated, but instead of accepting non participation at the Australian Open as the price of his beliefs, he became one of the few sportsmen in history to willingly test positive. Very convenient, methinks, along with the rest of Australia.
It is also galling that Novak can buy himself a justice that is denied to the rest of us. The asylum seekers have been in the Park Hotel, the holding place where Djokovic was sent to and described by his tone deaf mother (where does he get it from?) ‘‘as some hotel for immigrants, full of fleas with horrible food’’, for nine years. Where is their justice?
So when judge Anthony Kelly freed Djokovic on Monday night and said, with a pointed aside to ScoMo’s showboating ‘‘rules are rules’’ remark; ‘‘We all play by the same rules. Stated in other terms: those rules were not observed,’’ it is hard not to shake your head.
We most certainly don’t all play by the same rules, Judge Kelly. The Czech player Renata Voracova has gone home, having had her visa cancelled by the same process that ensnared Djokovic. But Voracova couldn’t afford to get ‘lawyered’ up. Where is her justice?
And what now for Djokovic. The Aussie state is already threatening him again. After losing the initial hearing Christopher Tran, the lawyer representing the government, said Minister Alex Hawke retained the ministerial power to remove Djokovic from the country despite the ruling. He would then be barred from coming back to Australia for three years.
Suddenly we are faced with Jarndyce versus Jarndyce as Australia’s increasingly authoritarian state tries to crush a butterfly beneath its wheel. Give it a rest, guys. As Mr Kyrgios so nobly said: ‘‘I’m feeling for him now. Like it’s not really humane, is it? What’s going on?’’
Not a lot that’s particularly good Nick, not a lot. So let’s be human. Let’s remember, in the name of Arthur Ashe, that the world and the tennis world can be a better place if we really put our hearts and minds to it. Let’s start by giving the person close to you a hug. There, wasn’t so hard ScoMo, was it?