A year after the vaccination scandal
Australia falls in love with Novak Djokovic again
By Andreas Thies, Melbourne
01/14/2023, 8:35 p.m
The Australian Open 2022 will be overshadowed by the scandal and the expulsion of tennis superstar Novak Djokovic. A year later, the Serb is back and a country falls in love with the record winner of the “Happy Slam” in Melbourne. In terms of sport, things could hardly be better.
Then he went through the player tunnel. On the way out to Rod Laver Arena you have to pass all the legends of the sport who have already won this tournament. Each of the winners will be honored in this players’ tunnel. Ken Rosewall, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi – of course Boris Becker too. Djokovic had shouldered his bag, looked back at his opponent that night, Nick Kyrgios, smiled and then went into the arena to thunderous applause, of which he is the tallest. He has won the title nine times, more than anyone else among men.
Warm welcome from the moderator, some jokes about the upcoming match. Then the Serb once again reminded that the proceeds from ticket sales go to a good cause. The audience had welcomed him warmly, almost falling in love with him again, it seemed. Nothing reminded of the situation a year ago when Djokovic was expelled from the country. When Australia, which had to cope with the longest lockdowns in the world during the pandemic, did not realize that there should be someone bigger than the rules that were set at the time.
Training match sold out in 58 minutes
A year has passed since then. A year in which a lot has happened. Corona has lost much of its horror in Australia over the course of 2022. Sure, the news from China is viewed with suspicion, but otherwise things have returned to normal here at the other end of the world. Masks are no longer compulsory, and vaccination documents no longer have to be presented upon entry. The three-year entry ban against the Serb was lifted later in the year. Craig Tiley, the boss of Tennis Australia, announced at a press conference shortly before the start of the first Grand Slam that there were no longer any mandatory corona tests. Anyone who does not feel well should stay at home, but he cannot rule out that athletes who are Corona positive will also compete in their matches.
Forgive and forget all the drama of the previous year. Djokovic’s relief at the benevolent reception was visible every second. “I was very emotional when I came onto the pitch. I didn’t know how the reception would be after last year’s events. I’m very grateful for that,” he later said at a press conference.
58 minutes. It took that long for the tickets for the training match between Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios to sell out. The tickets cost 20 Australian dollars, around 13 euros, and the proceeds went to the Australian Tennis Foundation. The match was billed as “The Arena Showdown,” which may be considered a slight exaggeration given the importance of this clash. Djokovic was deliberately casual and humorous, although light things always look a bit strained on him.
Just a minor injury to worry about
Djokovic and his fans.
(Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire)
His start into the new tennis year can be described as successful. Nobody had noticed that he was in Australia. Nobody had put the old stories on the table. He entered Australia at the end of December. Without notice. He was just there at some point. The first pictures were of a training Djokovic at the tournament in Adelaide.
There he gave autographs, willingly took selfies and the pictures of the new Djokovic found their way into social media. In terms of sport, there are hardly any question marks with the Serbs anyway. He won his only preparatory tournament, in Adelaide, with some brilliant play. Only his thigh had worried him in the last seven days. In the semifinals against Russian Daniil Medvedev, he suffered a minor injury. In Melbourne he had to break off a training session to prepare. But that’s no longer an issue, he assured. “I’ve been able to train, play training sets, so I hope it won’t be a big concern.” Even if he had to be more careful in training.
Australian Open hope for a restart
It is not yet certain what the reception will be like at his first match on Tuesday, but Djokovic is receiving prominent help from Craig Tiley. He had announced that there would be no “boo policy”, but if disgruntled viewers disturbed the fun of others, they would be out. What that will look like in practice remains exciting.
Tiley, who didn’t do well himself last year, doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. The Australian Open should be the “Happy Slam” again. One would like to forget the last two years, in which it was only possible to hold the event with great effort. 2023 is set to mark the beginning of a new narrative, one in which Djokovic could star. “I’m really looking forward to playing in front of people and hopefully giving them a lot of fun and good vibes,” said the Serb. “If I kept holding grudges, I probably wouldn’t be able to continue, then I would be not here now.”
That doesn’t mean that the first Grand Slam of the year is the end of the saga about the unvaccinated Novak Djokovic. Just a few days ago, the USA extended the deadline to April, during which you can only fly into the country if you have been vaccinated. In all likelihood, Djokovic will not be allowed to compete in the two largest tournaments outside of the Grand Slams in Indian Wells and Miami. The motto of this year’s Australian Open is “The story starts here”, the story begins here – how appropriate.