Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on January 24, 2022 - January 30, 2022

There will be a winner of the Australian Open men’s singles title in 2022, but it is the big-name losers who will be remembered. No amount of scorching serves and rasping volleys can match the pre-tournament drama that Rafael Nadal dubbed “a circus”.

The hard-fought off-court rallies between a heavy-handed host nation and its headstrong VVIP guest divided world opinion. And the reputations of the world’s No 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic, Australia and the tournament itself may take a long time to recover.

Play began while the defending champion and nine-time winner was still in the air after being deported for “endangering public health” and being “a risk to civil unrest”. Barely had he settled into his seat when Australian Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews confirmed that deportation carries a three-year entry ban unless there are compelling reasons against it.

To lose one Slam is unfortunate; to lose four at once is unthinkable. But Prime Minister Scott Morrison has since hinted that an earlier return may be possible. Numbers matter when your life’s ambition is to amass the most titles and be considered the greatest of all time. The 34-year-old Serbian now has plenty of time to ponder how it went so badly wrong.

How he must rue becoming the unwitting face of the anti-vax movement as well as his failure to come clean on his appearances after testing positive. They have cost him a golden chance to edge ahead of rivals Nadal, 35, who is competing in Melbourne, and Roger Federer, 40, who is not. The gilded trio are locked on 20 Grand Slam titles apiece.

Before he had even reached home, another door closed when France’s Sports Minister Roxana Maracineau announced that vaccine passes would be required for visiting athletes at future events. If the French Open in May/June is also out of reach, he will have to wait until Wimbledon a month later for a chance to add to his tally — the UK having a bubble arrangement for sporting guests.

Age is on his side, although he will still find his options limited. To remain competitive for the big events, he has to play regularly on the global circuit, which is no longer straightforward now that many countries have made vaccinations mandatory. But, as Nadal succinctly pointed out, “If you get vaccinated, you can play.” Instead, having been granted a second serve at the Australian legal system, he still ended up with the costliest double fault of his career.

Australia’s reputation also took a bashing. The focus on draconian laws and flea-infested hotels for illegal immigrants was very different from the sun, sea and surf image the country likes to portray. Djokovic’s stay in the no-frills Park Hotel was not “torture”, as his mother claimed, but it highlighted Australia’s neglect of asylum seekers and its confusing and contradictory pandemic response. Some of his fellow guests have been there for years.

Australian immigration lawyer David Prince said the authorities would have “egg on their faces”, adding: “The handling of the affair looks collectively very bad from Tennis Australia, the Victorian state and federal governments.” It was tempting to say the state’s backhand did not know what the federal forehand was doing.

Djokovic’s compatriot Laslo Djere went further. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he noted: “To tell you the truth, not just Serbians, I think the whole world saw it and they will probably have a new or different opinion about Australia.” He added: “Two years ago, when there were the bushfires, he donated a good amount of money, and now here in Australia, everyone just turned their backs on him.”

Not everyone: The Serbian community, some 80,000 strong in Melbourne, stood by him, although fears of civil unrest among them and the anti-vax brigade looked exaggerated. Outside of his compatriots, there wasn’t much support from his fellow players. Of the top 100 in the world, 97 have been vaccinated.

Just as sobering for the hosts, the so-called “Happy Slam” heard calls for its Grand Slam status to be taken away. As a much-loved venue and date on the calendar, it should not come to that, although the mere thought of losing it will send a shudder through the sports-mad city. Staged in the southern summer, the tennis fortnight provides the ideal start to the season and a warm welcome to most of the field who are grateful escapees from the depths of the northern winter.

The event itself came under unprecedented scrutiny. Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley, who had built a strong relationship with Djokovic, had to deny accusations that the governing body helped the player obtain the exemption. And when the Serb was forced to bow out, Tiley opted against a redraw, leaving the men’s singles horribly lop-sided.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) said it “deeply regretted the series of events” but most players are believed to be in favour of it staying down under. If, however, there were serious grounds for a switch, China or Japan would be eager to step in.Both would argue that they can deliver a Grand Slam that is uniquely Asian and would give tennis a boost on the most populous continent.

Besides his reputation, Djokovic will have taken a hit to both the pocket and heartstrings. He has to pay lawyers’ fees without prize money, but with sponsors such as Lacoste, Asics, Peugeot and Hublot sticking with him, he will scrape by. With a fortune of US$154.8 million, in June 2021 he was 46th on Forbes’ list of the 100 highest paid sports persons in the world.

But it will hurt that it could be the end of the love affair with Australia. After winning last year without breaking sweat, he told an adoring crowd: “Rod Laver Arena, I love you each year more and more. The love affair keeps going. Thank you so much. It has been a rollercoaster week for me. I am eternally grateful to my team for all their support and energy. I love you guys.”

For tennis, it is a scarcely credible downturn just four months after the sport scaled unprecedented highs in popularity at the previous Grand Slam in New York. Back in September, the sporting world had been captivated by the fairytale US Open triumph of teenage qualifier, Emma Raducanu.

Besides inspiring thousands of children to take up tennis, she became Britain’s Sports Personality of the Year. Djokovic, from the cusp of becoming the greatest male tennis player of all time, finds himself on pole to becoming Villain of the Year.

The best that can be said in a sad postscript is: He arrived intent on becoming an immortal; he left as a martyr.


Bob Holmes is a long-time sportswriter specialising in football

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