Australian Open 2022: With Novak Djokovic’s saga finally over, opportunity beckons for others

It took less than two hours for this plan to be ripped up. Some might consider it wishful thinking that the unvaccinated Serbian would be successful in the judicial review against the cancellation of his visa by the Australian government, but organisers had in fact come under pressure from some of the other 127 players in the top halves of the singles draws, waiting to find out when they would be required to step on the court.

This is just one element of the chaos that the Djokovic saga has caused over the past 12 days, ever since he triumphantly announced on social media that he was en route to Australia after receiving a medical exemption from a Covid-19 vaccine. No wonder, then, that a collective sigh of relief was breathed by many at Melbourne Park when the news filtered through today that the federal court had confirmed the deportation of the world No 1.

While there is some sympathy in the locker room for the bureaucratic minefield that Djokovic found himself mired in, it is undoubtedly for the best that he will take no part in the first grand-slam tournament of the season. Given the controversial series of events here, even he acknowledged that his continuing presence would have overshadowed the rest of the action on the hard courts of Melbourne.

“I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me and I hope that we can all now focus on the game and tournament I love,” a statement from Djokovic read. “I would like to wish the players, tournament officials, staff, volunteers and fans all the best for the tournament.”

It is unclear where Djokovic will return to the tour as the statement confirmed that he plans to take “some time to rest and to recuperate”. The “sunshine swing” of American hard-court tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in March seems unlikely given that there is expected to be similar mandatory requirements to be jabbed. More plausible is a comeback at April’s Masters event in Monte Carlo, where he resides for most of the year.

Djokovic, 34, has a knack for bouncing back from adversity, but losing the opportunity to win a record 21st grand-slam men’s singles title at his favourite tournament will severely test his resolve. Some of his allies rushed online today to offer a public show of support, with one questioning the motives behind the decision to send him home.

“Novak would never have gone to Australia if he had not been given an exemption to enter the country by the government,” Vasek Pospisil, Djokovic’s co-founder of the Professional Tennis Players’ Association, tweeted. “He would have skipped the Australian Open and been home with his family and no one would be talking about this mess.

“There was a political agenda at play here with the [Australian] elections coming up which couldn’t be more obvious. This is not his fault. He did not force his way into the country and did not ‘make his own rules’. He was ready to stay home.”

In the absence of Djokovic, so dominant here through the years, opportunity now knocks for others. The only Australian Open champion remaining in the field is Rafael Nadal, who, at the age of 35, will contest a grand-slam tournament without Djokovic or the injured Roger Federer in the draw for the first time in his career.

Daniil Medvedev, the US Open champion from Russia, is considered the new favourite given his pedigree on hard courts, while last year’s Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini now finds himself as the highest-ranked seed at No 7 in the first quarter of the drawsheet.

There was also a benefit further down the tennis food chain for Salvatore Caruso, a 29-year-old Italian ranked No 150 in the world. Two days after seemingly bowing out in the final round of qualifying, he now finds himself in the slot vacated by Djokovic at the top of the draw after receiving a late call-up as a lucky loser.