Djokovic granted visa to play in 2023 Australian Open

Sydney — Novak Djokovic has been granted a visa to play in the Australian Open in January, Guardian Australia and state broadcaster ABC reported on Tuesday.

Djokovic, who is Serbian, was deported from Australia before the Grand Slam in January after he refused to be vaccinated. The former world No 1 was originally barred from the country until 2025.

The ABC said it had confirmed immigration minister Andrew Giles had overturned that ban, allowing Djokovic to compete.

A spokesperson for Australia’s immigration ministry declined to comment on the reports.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said this month that Djokovic would be welcome in January if he could get a visa, but that Tennis Australia was unable to lobby on his behalf.

Australia in July scrapped a rule that required international travellers to declare their Covid vaccination status. Djokovic said in October he had received “positive signs” about the status of efforts to overturn his ban.

On Monday, Djokovic continued his dominance over Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-4 7-6(4) win after Andrey Rublev battled back to defeat fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-7(7) 6-3 7-6(7) in group stage play at the ATP Finals in Turin.

Djokovic’s outstanding serve, mighty forehand and all-court defence delivered him a ninth successive victory over Tsitsipas in their Red Group match. The Serb broke the Greek in the opening game, and rode that advantage to capture the first set in a match that came just two weeks after the Serbian beat Tsitsipas at the Paris Masters, a tournament also played on indoor hard courts.

Earlier, Rublev said his sixth career meeting with Medvedev reminded him of his encounter with the world No 5 at the 2020 US Open quarterfinals, where he lost in straight sets, and the 25-year-old was determined to overcome his poor start.

But having shaken off the disappointment of squandering seven set points in the opener, Rublev hit back with 25 winners in the next two and held his nerve in the deciding tiebreak to seal the victory on his fifth match point.

Reuters