BSR

wut? In the many years I've been following tennis, I don't ever remember a Slam draw ceremony being postponed. They always go off like clockwork.

HardCockCafe.com

Ah, thanks for the clarification. If he knew he was Covid-positive yet still did the interview with L'Équipe, I don't think he should get raked over the coals for it. True, he should have canceled the interview & stayed home, but either the L'Équipe guys are vaccinated and have nothing to worry about or they're unvaccinated and have to chosen to accept a level of risk. In either case, they're adults, which PR-wise isn't nearly as damaging as infecting a bunch of children.

Timestamps don't lie. Looks like he's gonna need those 4 lawyers he just hired. I feel bad for Renata Voracova, a Czech doubles specialist who was allowed entry, even played a match, then was detained and deported. Since she's not super-rich like Novak, she couldn't hire a dream team of pricey lawyers to fight the visa cancellation. She just had to leave Australia.

Someone tweeted out video of 2 Channel 7 newscasters' brutally blunt opinion of Novak & his visa case. Well, if the prevailing public opinion is that Novak lied about his recent Covid exposure, that might actually work out for him in the end. Lying is bad, but knowing you're Covid-positive yet meeting & mingling with dozens of people is even worse, imo. PS: as for the ongoing saga, Novak hired 4 more lawyers for his visa case. Wow, Novak is certainly doing his part to boost the Australian economy.

This baffles me. The whole world knew of Novak's travels because his training in Marbella was all over social media. Why would he "forget" to mention it on his visa application?

If none of the current moderators read/write Spanish well enough to moderate a Spanish subforum, perhaps they could recruit someone. Plenty of forum members have Spanish good enough to moderate.

Even though I didn't understand a word, I preferred the original German version. Something about the English version just didn't sound right.

When I first used Google translate, the translations often didn't make sense. To see how accurate the translations were, I tried it with some Spanish, the only other language I can read. Eek! It was horrible! I haven't used any other translation apps.

I just saw a clip of a press conference with Novak's parents and his brother Djordje. First when Djordje was asked about Novak's medical documentation, he insisted it was all valid, to the point where the Australian government's lawyer never challenged it during the hearing. Then when a German reporter asked if Novak knew he was positive, why did Novak attend a large children's event the next day, Djordje responded, "This press conference is adjourned." Heads the government wins, tails Novak loses. While the Aussie government's lawyer never questioned the positive test, plenty of people are wondering if it was forged. If Novak admits it was, then not only is he instantly deported, he faces perjury charges. If the positive test is legit (note that Novak took the test @1pm on 12/16, knew the result 7 hours later according to court documents), then Novak faces a public relations disaster. Children aren't really at risk from Covid. The problem is they bring the virus home and expose their parents and more critically grandparents. Apparently that was a problem with Novak's Adria Tour. A lot of young people were infected, most likely at the nightclub where all the tennis players were partying, brought the virus home, and infected whole multigenerational households. Even if Novak did indeed forge the positive test, I doubt he'll ever admit it. After all, who in their right mind wants to face a perjury charge. So now Novak has to deal with this looming PR catastrophe. Honestly, even if Novak makes the most heartfelt apology, while people will respect his taking responsibility, he will face a backlash like nothing he, nor any other tennis player for that matter, has ever seen.

When I fired up the tablet, a notification popped up, "Novak wins visa case." Hmm, that can't be right, lemme check. Tennis.com's top story: Novak wins visa appeal Men's Tennis Forum can be a lousy source for news because most forum members have such a strong bias (3 warring factions: Roger, Rafa, Novak), but the thread about the hearing was accurate. The die-hards watching the proceeding kept commenting that Novak's lawyers were winning whereas the government's lawyer was making weak, unconvincing arguments. I assumed those were just Novak fanboys seeing what they wanted to see, but whaddya know. Judge Anthony Kelly ruled that Novak won on a procedural fairness issue because the government canceled Novak's visa without allowing Novak enough time to respond. The catch is that the state of Victoria says that prior infection within the last 6 months is acceptable for entry whereas the Australian federal government says it isn't. So the Immigration Minister Alex Hawke still has grounds to cancel Novak's visa. The question is whether it would be politically wise for him to do so. In Novak's favor, when the government lawyer said the Immigration Minister planned to appeal, Judge Kelly warned him not to. Since the government was ordered to pay all Novak's legal fees (you know he hired the best lawyers money can buy), an appeal might be a waste of even more taxpayer dollars. The MTF guys are saying that Anthony Kelly would preside over the appeal as well. If the government ignores him and appeals anyway and certainly if Kelly is the presiding judge, the appeal will be over before it starts.

I found a Twitter thread posted by a retired immigration lawyer who confirms what I've suspected all along, that Novak's chances of winning entry into Australia are somewhere between zero and zilch.

Here is a clip of a Brian Boitano interview. Before hitting play, you might want to put a lead apron over your gaydar just in case.

It was meant as a joke. But if you don't know Brian Boitano, you won't get it.

Wow, Serbia's president has made Novel's entry into Australia his personal mission: "I've just finished my telephone conversation with Novak Djokovic," Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic posted on Instagram. "I told our Novak that the whole of Serbia is with him and that our bodies are doing everything to see that the harassment of the world's best tennis player is brought to an end immediately. In line with all norms of international law, Serbia will fight for Novak, truth and justice."

I remember something like this when figure skater Brian Boitano came out. Can you actually "come out" if the whole world already knows you're gay?

I don't know what to believe any more, but according to ESPN, Novak is still in limbo. That is, he has not been deported yet. He will be allowed to stay in Australia until Monday. Who da heck knows what if anything will be resolved by then. While Novak can afford the best lawyers money can buy and all of Serbia up to the President is fighting for him, the Australian federal government seems awfully entrenched in their position. The drama continues ...

If the money were going to the Cuban people, then I would agree with you. But all profits would just go to the regime.

True enough, and as a die-hard Novak fan, his refusal to vaxx drives me crazy. I heard that Roland Garros and the French government will impose mandates on player vaccination comparable to Australia's. Always a chance London & New York will too. Novak could avoid all this drama if he just got the jab, as hundreds of millions around the world have, without any adverse health consequences whatsoever. But like I've mentioned previously, Novak can be weird about some things, and one weirdness is "artificial" medicine. He believes in natural, holistic healing and health. He follows a super-strict, all-organic vegan diet. He won't take anti-inflammatories, he avoids needles of any kind. When he had that elbow injury from 2015 through 2017, he refused to get surgery, instead tried to heal it naturally. When he finally exhausted all options, he submitted to the surgery. Although the procedure was simple and recovery very quick, he was mentally anguished over resorting to "artificial" medicine like surgery. Even though he bounced back to win Wimbledon and the US Open in 2018, he felt like a failure for getting surgery. Yeah, like I said, the guy can be kinda weird. But hopefully that background information helps people understand why Novak is anti-vaxx. His natural holistic philosophy is the root of his AO drama, but it's also why at 34 he has the body of a 27yo.

I heard from tennis journalist Amy Lundy that the hitch was the deadline for players to apply for an entry visa was back in early November, but Novak got his medical exemption just a couple of days ago. Unfortunately for Novak, the type of visa he applied for in November is not the visa a player with a medical exemption needs. Novak and his team must have assumed the visa he got back in November was all he needed, without reading the fine print. I was hoping that there was still time for Novak to sort it out and fly back to Australia, but Serbian sports writer Sasa Ozmo, perhaps the best source for all things Novak, said that it's looking unlikely.

I'm guessing that he will go back home, try to get the proper visa (rush order!), and then return to Australia. With even the president of Serbia fighting for him, I have to think he has a decent chance of pulling it off. If he does play, this will make him more sympathetic to the crowd because everybody's had to deal with the nightmare of red tape and government bureaucracy at some point. Once people learn that 4 other players also got medical exemptions, they should see that Novak didn't get special treatment. I also found out that the exemptions were granted by blind review, that is, the authorities reviewed the applications without knowing the identity of the applicant. I was certain Novak's medical exemption was a crock, but hey, maybe not.

My outrage over preferential treatment has calmed down now that I learned that 4 other players also received medical exemptions. To protect their privacy, neither the government nor the AO disclosed their identities. We know Novak got one only because he announced it publicly. Sandgren didn't bother to apply for a medical exemption because he knew he wouldn't qualify. Not sure about Herbert, but I'm guessing his case is the same as Sandgren's.

This latest development is just crazy. Pundits are saying that Novak will not play the AO, but this issue has inflamed all of Serbia to the point where the Serbian president is getting directly involved. Let's see if resolution is still possible that will allow Novak entry. Since the AO doesn't start until the 17th, Novak still has time. Apparently Novak is locked up in a hotel room, which is understandable given that he has no visa for entry. What I don't get is why they took away his phone. Yikes! The guy's not a criminal. Obviously he can use the phone in the hotel room, but still, confiscating his cell seems a bit extreme.

If the fans turn against Novak because he got special treatment, it'll be water off a duck's back. Novak is so used to being the villain when playing against Rafa and especially Roger that he's mastered tuning out crowd hostility. What might bother Novak far more is if his fellow players turn against him. Herbert is well-liked, dunno about Sandgren, but the rank & file will sympathize with both journeymen who got shut out while his tennis royal highness was ushered in. In the end, you can't really blame Novak. While it was wrong of him to seek special dispensation, responsibility ultimately lies with the Victorian government+Craig Tiley (AO Tournament Director) because they could have said no.

Hmm, this is starting to smell very fishy. The AO confirmed that Novak did get a medical exemption (see tweet below). I thought the only cases that qualify for a medical exemption are cancer patients or people (like those with rheumatoid) on immuno-suppressing drugs. If someone knows of other conditions, please post them here. In any case, I am baffled by what condition a world #1 tennis player could possibly have that would qualify for a medical exemption. Only 4 active players have double-digit Slams, the equivalent of tennis royalty. Roger & Serena were definitely out. Rafa is supposed to play, but who knows the state of his foot injury. That left only Novak as the only tennis royal who was definitely fit to play. Had all four tennis royals been absent from the 2022 AO, that would have been a serious blemish on the tournament, already considered the least prestigious of the 4 Slams. Please note that Pierre-Hugues Herbert (#111 in singles but #8 in doubles) and Tennys Sandgren (#96 in singles) had to sit out because they refuse to get vaxxed. You can argue that they made their choice & have to live with the consequences. True, but so did Novak. Either grant all 3 an exemption or none of them. But it's wrong to give an exemption only to the tennis royal just because your tournament needs the star power.