Novak Djokovic will not play the Australian Open after the decision of immigration minister Alex Hawke to cancel his visa was not overturned by a second court.
Djokovic twice had his visa cancelled, once by Australian Border Force and then by Hawke, over concerns that he was unvaccinated and would pose a wider risk to Australia’s pandemic effort.
The world No 1 appealed the decision both times and at 6.45pm on the eve of the first grand slam of the year, the Federal Court of Australia dismissed his application
Djokovic was due to take on fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic at around 8.30pm local time (9.30am UK time) on Monday on Melbourne Park’s biggest court, the Rod Laver Arena – but will now be replaced in the draw by a lucky loser from qualifying.
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“I am extremely disappointed with the Court ruling to dismiss my application for judicial review,” Djokovic said.
“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.
“I would like to wish the players, tournament officials, staff, volunteers and fans all the best for the tournament.”
Lawyers from Hall & Wilcox, representing Djokovic, were given the reasons for Hawke’s decision on Friday night and the case was transferred from the Federal Circuit Court, where his first appeal was heard, to the larger Federal Court of Australia.
A full bench of three judges, each sitting in different states due to the short-notice nature of the hearing, was convened and heard arguments from both sides.
Djokovic’s lawyers argued that it was inaccurate to characterise the player as “an anti-vaxxer” and disagreed with Hawke’s claim that allowing him to enter Australia would excite the anti-vaxx movement.
The court are yet to publish their reasons for the decision but did stress that their decision was not one on “upon the merits or wisdom of the decision” of the immigration minister but rather on the “lawfulness or legality” of it.
Huge ramifications for tennis
Djokovic will also face the prospect of a three-year ban from applying for a visa to enter Australia, unless he can come up with “compelling reasons” for doing so.
Whether he wants to or not is also a question for debate. This is a country where he has won nine grand slam titles but he could hardly have felt less welcome than on this occasion and has now been hounded out by a combination of public opinion, political will and rigorous procedure.
However, Djokovic does have a singular desire to become the greatest player of all-time and to do that without dispute, he will probably need to end his career with the most grand slam titles of any player; he is currently tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on 20, three behind Serena Williams and four behind all-time leader Margaret Court.
To do that without heading to Australia until 2026 (when he will be 38) would be tricky, albeit not impossible: Nadal’s body is starting to fail him and Djokovic beat him at Roland Garros last year and none of the top 10 is as comfortable or capable on the grass of Wimbledon as he is. He was beaten by Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final but Djokovic remains a hard-court monster, meaning he could potential play three slams a year and still rack up a healthy title haul – but his absence from Melbourne would certainly make things more difficult.
