Despite his half-hearted apologies, Novak Djokovic continues to find himself in trouble in the Corona thriller over his entry to Australia. While the situation is unclear, the tennis star has nevertheless been allocated a first-round match in the draw.
Novak Djokovic has been part of the draw despite the unclear situation surrounding his visa at the Australian Open and is set to play compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round.
Decision not yet made
But it remains unclear whether the tennis pro will be allowed to take part in the match. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday in response to a reporter’s question that Immigration Minister Alex Hawke was still considering whether to exercise his personal right to revoke the world number one’s visa. “Those are personal ministerial powers that Minister Hawke can exercise and I’m not going to comment further on that at this stage,” Morrison said. No final decision had been made either on Thursday evening (local time).
Tennis star faces expulsion despite draw
Djokovic felt compelled to act. Put far on the defensive, the 20-time Grand Slam winner publicly admitted mistakes on the eighth day of the farce over his residency in Australia, probably to appease the investigating authorities.
But the threat of the Serb’s deportation may have increased once again given his negligent behaviour and many unanswered questions. Djokovic is in trouble – big trouble, in fact. As the Australian daily “Herald Sun” reports, the responsible authorities are preparing to deport the tennis superstar.
Paul Bongiorno, columnist for the Australian newspaper “Saturday Paper”, also writes on Twitter: “I heard that Immigration Minister Alex Hawke will deport the Joker tomorrow.” By “Joker” we mean Novak Djokovic.
Training with Djokovic?
In the midst of all the confusion, the organisers of the first Grand Slam tournament of the new season invited everyone to the Australian Open draw (with Djokovic as the number one seed) on Thursday and pointed to a public practice session for the nine-time Melbourne winner at 2.15pm local time. He finished this after just over half an hour.
