TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Djokovic readies vaccine exemption case for Australian visa showdown
Tennis ace and vaccine-sceptic Novak Djokovic prepared his legal guns Sunday for a battle to stay in Melbourne and defend his Australian Open title.
Change Size
Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts as he plays against Italy's Matteo Berrettini during their men's singles quarter-final tennis match on Day 11 of The Roland Garros 2021 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on June 9, 2021. (AFP/Anne-Christine Poujoulat)
T
ennis world number one Novak Djokovic prepared his legal guns Sunday for a battle to stay in Melbourne and defend his Australian Open title, arguing he has the all-clear because of a positive coronavirus test in December.
Djokovic's fight to overturn the shock cancellation of his visa and his ensuing detention in a notorious Melbourne immigration facility will culminate in a highly publicised online hearing in federal court on Monday.
The vaccine-sceptic Serbian star awaited the showdown holed up in the former Park Hotel, a five-storey facility that holds about 32 migrants trapped in Australia's hardline immigration system -- some for years.
Nobody is allowed in or out except staff.
A handful of protesters gathered Sunday morning on the street outside, where hundreds of fans, anti-vaccination demonstrators and migrant rights activists had rallied in party mood the previous day.
With eight days to go before the January 17 start of the Australian Open, any delay could dash the 34-year-old's hopes of winning his 10th crown in Melbourne, and a record 21st Grand Slam title.
In an order released to the public Sunday, Judge Anthony Kelly said the case will go ahead as scheduled at 10 am Monday (2300 GMT Sunday), refusing a government request to adjourn until Wednesday.
