Novak Djokovic expressed his disappointment on not being able to play Australian Open this year after the Australian Federal Court his appeal against the deportation order.
Three Federal Court judges upheld a decision made on Friday by the immigration minister to cancel the 34-year-old Serb’s visa on public interest grounds.
Federal Court Chief Justice James Allsop said earlier on Sunday he and two fellow judges hoped to reach a verdict within hours after the court hearing ended.
An Australian minister described as a perception that the top-ranked tennis player was a 'talisman of a community of anti-vaccination sentiment'.
Djokovic won his court appeal this week against a border official's decision to cancel his visa. He won over procedural errors related to Australia's confusing COVID-19 vaccination regulations.
The Australian government has canceled his visa twice and Djokovic's lawyers have appealed twice.
Djokovic was not seen on the online feed available to the public for the 15-minute procedural hearing, which began just two days before he is scheduled to play his first match of 2022 at Melbourne Park.
This decision followed orders by the Federal Circuit and Family Court on 10 January 2022, quashing a prior cancellation decision on procedural fairness grounds.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said Friday he used his ministerial discretion to revoke the 34-year-old Serb's visa on public interest grounds three days before the Australian Open is to begin.
The latest holdup has to do with an anticipated decision from the country's immigration minister on Djokovic's back-and-forth status.
Despite the cloud hanging over Djokovic's ability to compete, Australian Open organizers included the top seed in the draw.
The 29-year-old Indian went down in straight sets to Czech Republic's World No. 130 Tomas Machac 1-6, 3-6.
In a statement posted to his social media accounts, the tennis star also blamed 'human error' by his support team for failing to declare that he had travelled in the two-week period before entering Australia.
Germany's World No. 228 Maximilian Marterer defeated World No. 221 Prajnesh 6-2, 7-6(8) in the second round of the Australian Open qualifiers.
A statement was posted on Djokovic’s social media accounts Wednesday while the men’s tennis No. 1 was in Rod Laver Arena holding a practice session against Tristan Schoolkate, a 20-year-old Australian.
"The whole situation regarding Novak Djokovic is closed by the verdict of the Australian court," Srdjan Djokovic told Bosnian Serb TV station RTRS.
The 34-year-old British star defeated Norway's World No. 345 Viktor Durasovic 6-3, 6-1 in the opening round.
Sania and Ukrainian Nadiia Kichenok, the second seeds, lost the opening round of the WTA 250 event 3-6, 3-6 to Czech pair of Tereza Martincova and Marketa Vondrousova in 61 minutes.
Medvedev is seeded second, followed by Alexander Zverev at No. 3, Stefanos Tsitsipas at No. 4 and Andrey Rublev at No. 5 in men's singles draw.
ATP No. 182 Ramanathan, who is yet to make it to a Grand Slam main draw, lost in straight sets to World No. 197 Gian Marco Moroni 3-6, 5-7. WTA No. 104 Ankita Raina, on the other hand, suffered a pale 1-6, 0-6 defeat to World No. 120 Lesia Tsurenko.
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