Novak Djokovic drama still looms over Australian Open

By Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist

The Australian Open has long tried to sell itself as the cheeriest spot on the Grand Slam tennis calendar, an event where sunny skies, big smiles and a passionate fan base can be guaranteed.

Yet the self-styled "happy slam" is grinning through gritted teeth this time around, with this year’s version having become an event sadly destined to be overshadowed by the legal fracas that engulfed it before play properly began.

The man whose name will forever be most associated with the 2022 tournament is Novak Djokovic, who has made more headlines in a year when he is not able to participate than he did any of the nine times that he lifted the men’s singles trophy.

Djokovic’s battle to enter Australia, the controversy over his vaccination status, his detention and subsequent deportation from the country and the sports-based result of all that has cast a dark mark over the Australian Open that won’t quickly be forgotten.

Beyond that, it has sparked heated discussion, both in the sports world and outside it, about what the future could and should look like for athletes needing to cross borders and even for regular travelers of vacationing or business purposes.

Historically speaking, not being able to play this tournament has cost Djokovic the chance to surpass Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal by becoming the first man to win 21 Slams. Had he played, he would have been an overwhelming favorite to win it all.

He has lost that opportunity, but truthfully, this has spiraled into such a saga that no one can possibly come out of it well.

"The prelude to the Australian Open has been turbulent as rarely before," columnist Greg Baum wrote in the Melbourne Age. "It might be a first: a contest about sport in which everyone lost."

This is not a space where we delve too deeply into the sphere of political debate, but Djokovic’s reputation has undoubtedly taken a significant public hit, with the possible exception of in his homeland, Serbia.

The world No. 1, who has occupied that position for a record 356 (non-consecutive) weeks, is not vaccinated for COVID-19. He isn't a vocal participant in the anti-vaccination movement, but he doesn’t appear to have any plans to get the shot. Australian immigration laws, some of the tightest in the world, prohibit entry to those without an approved vaccine or medical exemption.

Here’s where it all got messy. Djokovic claimed that because he contracted COVID-19 in December and recovered from it, he should be cleared. He seems to have received conflicting advice.

When he arrived in Australia, his visa was canceled, and he was detained in an immigration hotel. The visa was restored after procedural irregularities were found, leaving Djokovic free to practice at Melbourne Park and prepare for the tournament.

But then, Australia’s immigration minister, Alex Hawke, stepped in to cancel the visa once more before a final appeal effectively ended any hopes that Djokovic could play, at which point he boarded a flight out of the country.

The Australian government, in a state of flux with upcoming elections, has been widely criticized at home and abroad due to the perception of dithering and uncertainty, though polls indicated that most Australians, who have lived through drastic lockdowns, supported Djokovic’s removal.

One of the saddest parts is the lingering effect this will have on the rest of the tournament, both while it is going on and in how it will be remembered. Another player is going to win the men’s singles title, but unjustly, there might be a de facto asterisk attached to the triumph in the minds of some.

Tennis players are required to give media interviews after each match, and barely a single one has passed by without questions about Djokovic. The main draw began Sunday afternoon U.S. time, and by the time you read this, the men’s and women’s singles fields will have been whittled from 128 to 48.

Even so, the vast majority of the discussion is still about one man, who is now thousands of miles away.

"There is no player in history that’s more important than an event," Nadal told reporters. "No one. Not even Roger [Federer], Novak, myself, Bjorn Borg. Australian Open is much more important than any player. It will be great with or without him."

Former world No. 1 Andy Murray voiced that the way the Djokovic situation played out was a "mess," but he had little sympathy with Djokovic's refusal to get vaccinated. 

"Ultimately, people have to make their own choices," Murray said. "But there are also consequences sometimes for those decisions."

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, meanwhile, who has expressed his dislike of Djokovic in no uncertain terms, this time flipped the script and blasted his own country’s treatment of the Serb.

What we must now bear in mind is what this means for sports in a world in which the coronavirus has changed things as we know them forever. Vaccine mandates set a hard line, but there is unlikely to be any international uniformity to them. Some countries will demand full vaccination for entry; others might not. Individual sports leagues might take a stance requiring vaccinations for their athletes; others not.

In tennis, which is based around a tour that traverses every part of the globe, it is going to be particularly felt. There is even another significant moment on the near horizon.

The next Grand Slam is the French Open, to be staged in Paris in May. This week, the French government announced that it will be mandatory for anyone (athletes included) to have a vaccination record in order to enter a public building (stadiums included).

Beyond that, it remains uncertain how Djokovic’s stance might affect his ability to enter the United Kingdom for this summer’s Wimbledon championships and the United States for the US Open in New York in September.

It is a situation in which there is never going to be universal agreement, and agendas are going to come to the fore. Djokovic might soon be faced with a decision as to how much his stance on the vaccine means to him. It is clearly something he feels strongly about, but is it strong enough for him to allow it to derail his dominance of men’s tennis and his potential clinching of GOAT status?

These are questions we never could have imagined asking, but it is a new reality for sports. If this whole experience has taught us anything, it’s that it will be a fiendishly complex one. For Djokovic, given his level of achievement, his profile and the nature of the sport he plays, especially so.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider Newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.