Tennis Thread

[shok]

Good lord. Look at the 'statement' Djerk and his faithful manservant Vasek Pospisil have put out. Sheesh, he's not imprisoned in a North Korea prison camp!  🥴

 

[mojoween]

“They’re keeping him as a prisoner.  It’s just not fair. It’s just not human.” (Mother Djokovic)

SPARE. Me.  Your precious baby tried to skate around the rules, and Australia said fuck no.

He’s free to leave the country at any time, is he not?  At least that’s what the home affairs minister said.  So go.  Playing tennis is not a right.  Asshole.

[Black Knight]

At this point his parents have compared him both to Spartacus and to Jesus.

No wonder he has such a big head that he thinks no rules should apply to him ever.

[bosawks]

The best part of this is the almost overwhelming response of laughing ridicule.

You know he'd rather be hated than made the fool.

[Jillibean]

I can't help but feel gleeful amusement as I follow this situation.

To clarify--could Djoker have opted, once he received his "exemption" from Tennis Australia, to come into the country and do a quarantine period to offset the fact that he wasn't vaccinated? And is all this because he didn't want to observe that quarantine and wanted to just let himself in the backdoor because he's rich and good at tennis? Or did he have no available options to get into the country given his refusal to follow the rules Australia has handed down?

Honestly, this seems like such an opportunity for Australia to turn the PR around and say "These rules are for the good of everyone, to make people as safe as we possibly can, and we imagine anyone who generally cares about the well-being of others will respect that and want to do everything they can to uphold it." Call him out for being the jerk he is, back him into a corner of basically having to say he believes people should be put at risk beyond what is inherently necessary so that he, specifically, can play in a tennis tournament in a country in which he is a tourist. 

[CountryGirl]

3 hours ago, Black Knight said:

At this point his parents have compared him both to Spartacus and to Jesus.

No wonder he has such a big head that he thinks no rules should apply to him ever.

I take back (almost) everything I have ever said about Federer being arrogant as NoVaxx takes the trophy of entitlement and arrogance.

1 hour ago, bosawks said:

The best part of this is the almost overwhelming response of laughing ridicule.

You know he'd rather be hated than made the fool.

This is not going how he thought it would go. At all.

[galaxygirl76]

I see he and his family aren't just going victim, they are going full Jesus on the cross martyr.

[CountryGirl]

1 hour ago, galaxygirl76 said:

I see he and his family aren't just going victim, they are going full Jesus on the cross martyr.

[Black Knight]

Since he fancies himself a crusader, maybe when he finally leaves Australia he can fly over to Mexico, pick up those fools stranded there and return them to Canada. I believe Canada's pretty eager to slap them with fines.

[BitterApple]

I'm surprised Djokovic can stand up straight after carrying that cross.

What an absolute freaking joke. He'll share details of his detainment when he's ready? I highly doubt the authorities were waterboarding him. He needs to get over himself and after seeing the way his parents defend his behavior, it's no wonder he's such a self-absorbed narcissist. 

[dcalley]

4 hours ago, Jillibean said:

To clarify--could Djoker have opted, once he received his "exemption" from Tennis Australia, to come into the country and do a quarantine period to offset the fact that he wasn't vaccinated? And is all this because he didn't want to observe that quarantine and wanted to just let himself in the backdoor because he's rich and good at tennis?

It does indeed appear that the state of Victoria allows unvaccinated people without a medical exemption to enter if they quarantine for 14 days in a hotel. And "If you have a valid medical exemption, you can follow the same home quarantine rules and testing obligations as fully vaccinated adults."

[Black Knight]

I would guess tennis players don't want to do that because it means 14 days of no real training/practice leading up to the tournament. Other tennis players are not participating in the AO because of their vaccination status - the difference being they didn't try to sneak in anyway.

[Jillibean]

11 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

I would guess tennis players don't want to do that because it means 14 days of no real training/practice leading up to the tournament. Other tennis players are not participating in the AO because of their vaccination status - the difference being they didn't try to sneak in anyway.

Oh I absolutely know why he wouldn't want to do it. I was just clarifying that the pathway was open to him if competing at the AO was what he wanted to do, and not being vaccinated was also what he wanted to do. 

[Bewitched]

I'm sure his team could have rented a house with a court (even dropping 5 figures wouldn't be much for him) and done the 14 day quarantine.  This was trying to skirt the rules thinking they wouldn't apply to him because he is Novak.

[galaxygirl76]

So to recap what I have learned on reddit, he tested positive on the 16th of last month. The deadline for exceptions was the 10th of last month. He somehow managed to file late, anonymously(or so they claim) and get allowed to enter the AO. So this is still a total shit show where everyone sucks, except for border control who actually did their job correctly according to federal guidelines. 

 

Did I miss anything? 

Edited January 8, 2022 by galaxygirl76

[Irlandesa]

18 minutes ago, galaxygirl76 said:

Did I miss anything? 

He appeared at public events, maskless, on the 16th and 17th.  Allegedly "positive."

I'm listening to a pretty good podcast on this subject.  It's a couple of days old but interesting. https://nochallengesremaining.podbean.com/e/episode-321-deciphering-details-of-djokovic-s-deportation-drama/

[Fukui San]

What is the argument that anyone outside of Djokovic's camp sucks? Were they keeping information hidden or something? It seems that there were accommodations made that were ignored.

[emmawoodhouse]

So now he's also a superspreader. How can anyone defend this entitled piece of shit?

[galaxygirl76]

18 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

What is the argument that anyone outside of Djokovic's camp sucks? Were they keeping information hidden or something? It seems that there were accommodations made that were ignored.

From how I'm understanding it the Australian tennis federation and the AO were spreading misinformation about how to enter the country according to federal guidelines. 

[khyber]

2 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

So now he's also a superspreader. How can anyone defend this entitled piece of shit?

I wonder how Novak fans will deal with this. I'm not talking about anti-vax nuts or Serbian nationalist, I'm just talking about regular tennis fans who like him. Either he was positive and went around a bunch of children or he/his camp paid for a fake test result to commit visa fraud.

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, Fukui San said:

What is the argument that anyone outside of Djokovic's camp sucks? Were they keeping information hidden or something? It seems that there were accommodations made that were ignored.

I think Djokovic was counting on his star power to get himself into the country.  It sounds like that was Tennis Australia's plan as well. 

It sounds like three other players got in under the same "Covid in the past 6 months" exemption that Djokovic was planning to use even though that's only an approved exemption for the Australian Open and maybe for the state of Victoria as long as you're already in Australia.

But Tennis Australia was told last year, in writing, by authorities in the federal government that "Covid in the past 6 months" would not be an approved exemption to get into the country of Australia. 

Tennis Australia never passed this on, apparently.  I guess they were hoping that border security would look at the exemption, the paperwork and approve entry even if the exemption technically didn't meet the federal standards.  And indeed it worked for three previous players who had been granted this exemption.  But it sounds like they came to Australia with solid documentation of a recent COVID case with multiple doctor reports and proof of a lab positive PCR test. 

Djokovic couldn't stealthily try to get into this country. Nope, he had to announce it on Instagram.  Given the otherwise strict COVID rules in Australia, this certainly caught people's attention given he's a known anti-vaxxer.  People were watching and I'm guessing border security made darn sure they were following the strict rules of entry for Australia. Then he shows up with only a doctor's note from one doctor on Tennis Australia letterhead. Nothing suspicious about that.

It also sounds like Victoria could still approve Djokovic for entry---basically take responsibility for him.  But when border security called to see if they wanted to do that, they washed their hands of him. 

The other players who got in under the exemption that really isn't an exemption have been deported or left voluntarily.  It sounds like they thought they were doing the right thing and really did have COVID.  At least one has claimed she intended to get the vaccine at the end of the year but then got COVID.  I feel sorry for them because they don't have the financial resources of a Djokovic.

Sorry for the long post but I do think Djokovic looks bad.  But I also think Tennis Australia (and the head of Tennis Australia who is a good friend of Djokovic) looks bad.  Victoria might look a little bad too since apparently they approved his exemption. 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Irlandesa

[Black Knight]

16 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Victoria might look a little bad too since apparently they approved his exemption. 

Particularly if one thinks that they might have let him in after all if not for the outcry that occurred after he posted on Instagram that he was headed to Australia. It's a lengthy flight there, more than enough time for Australian public anger to reach levels where the government wasn't going to turn a blind eye to Djokovic.

(It reminds me a little bit of the Justine Sacco incident years ago, in which she tweeted a racist joke, boarded her plane and went to sleep, and and in the eight hours or so before the plane landed in South Africa her entire life was upended.)

[Irlandesa]

So it sounds like the government lawyers withdrew the Visa cancellation in court--essentially conceding that some sort of procedure wasn't followed correctly.  (And a procedural issue regarding whether or not Djokovic had enough time to respond to his Visa cancellation was what was being argued in court....not whether or not the reason behind the cancellation was valid.)

But I guess now there's an Australian official who can still cancel the Visa.  The government lawyers reserved that right.  Time will tell whether or not he still gets the boot.

[blackwing]

Ugh, not the result I was hoping for.  I'm assuming he will get to play, and he will complain whether he wins or loses that he was treated unfairly.

I refuse to watch any of his matches and will be actively hoping he loses.  I hope fans boo him loudly as often as possible.

[wanderingstar]

Who could've guessed that a privileged athlete would be allowed to compete despite flouting the rules?

[NUguy514]

Yeah, my understanding is that the case was about whether Border Patrol followed procedure; I think that the ruling is bullshit and that the judge showed clear bias before the case was even heard, but it wasn't about whether or not Djoker was trying to enter Australia with falsified and/or insufficient documentation to skirt Australia's COVID requirements.  Obviously, though, he was.  I mean, look at this bullshit.  I sincerely hope the Minister of Immigration does revoke his visa.

[Irlandesa]

30 minutes ago, NUguy514 said:

I think that the ruling is bullshit and that the judge showed clear bias before the case was even heard

The judge didn't really rule, did he?  I thought the government withdrew. 

[khyber]

 

[Danny Franks]

So this narcissistic prick is going to win the Aussie Open now, isn't he? And his fans and his equally narcissistic parents will crow about it forever.

[theatremouse]

Well if he didn't actually have COVID a month ago, and is still unvaxxed, he could still pretty easily come down with omicron in the next six days. Heck he might test positive due to his ages ago infection and get the boot that way, a la Benoit Paire (who is almost certainly fuming and actually has an ok reason to for once).

[I Want My MBTV]

On 1/8/2022 at 1:51 PM, khyber said:

I wonder how Novak fans will deal with this. I'm not talking about anti-vax nuts or Serbian nationalist, I'm just talking about regular tennis fans who like him. Either he was positive and went around a bunch of children or he/his camp paid for a fake test result to commit visa fraud.

Well, I'll tell you...  I've been a fan for a number of years and was comfortable with that even if it wasn't a popular opinion.  I felt some of the criticism leveled at him was unfair and felt a bit bad for him; having all the talent but not the respect and then those parents....  that was all pre-Covid.   I still tried to give him the benefit of the doubt when he had the event in the early days of Covid and players got infected.  It was early and they were following that countries rules.... 

Anyway - ever since Covid started and I started seeing more personal things about him and his wife it's been harder and harder but now, nope, that's it.  Peace out.  As Nadal said "hasn't the world suffered enough".  I think even the Pope said it's a moral obligation.  Which seriously - it is!  I won't defend first responders who refuse to get vaccinated and I sure as heck will not defend tennis players.  So, my Novak t-shirt will no longer be worn in public (I'd probably donate it to Goodwill but it's still Lacoste so $$) and I will firmly be rooting for Rafa from here on out.  

[dcalley]

The immigration minister is still able to revoke the visa. I hope he is paying attention to what the journalists are digging up.

 

[theatremouse]

Lying liar gonna lie, but also I'd imagine his passport would need to be marked when he went to Spain, no? So wouldn't they catch that lie when he entered even if there weren't eyewitnesses and reporters seeing him in 2 different countries on those 2 dates?

[CheshireCat]

2 hours ago, theatremouse said:

Lying liar gonna lie, but also I'd imagine his passport would need to be marked when he went to Spain, no? So wouldn't they catch that lie when he entered even if there weren't eyewitnesses and reporters seeing him in 2 different countries on those 2 dates?

I'm trying to remember if I had a stamp from Switzerland in my passport and I don't think I did. I'm not even sure if I needed a passport. Could be that they have an agreement with European Union states that allows travellers to enter with an ID, especially since there likely are a lot of people who live in one of the neighboring countries and work in Switzerland or vice-versa. I could be wrong as it was years ago but it's possible that he doesn't have a stamp or anything in his passport if Serbia has an agreement with EU countries.

It's also possible that he has two passports.

But there would definitely be a travel record.

(And I thought figure skating and gymnastics were full of drama 😉)

[shok]

Did you see the video clip of the press conference the Djokovic family hosted in Belgrade? Mother and father and brother  Djordje were posing and preening loving all the attention they were getting. Then the reporters started asking some questions - like 'is it true Novak was out in public the day after he tested positive for Covid?' Wiped the smirk right off their faces and Djordje says 'this press conference is adjourned. Long live Novak' (like he's a king or something 🙄 ).

 

[khyber]

Edited January 11, 2022 by khyber

[CountryGirl]

He is such an insufferable ass.

Every single opponent he faces:

[NUguy514]

It just gets worse and worse.  The cynic in me thinks that none of the chicanery he and the Serbian government have engaged in will matter and that he'll be allowed to stay and play because the rules never seem to apply to the .00001%, but I still have a little hope that his skinny ass will be booted out of Australia.  We should find out today.

[emmawoodhouse]

Novaxx defends himself. Poorly.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYnO7cDqbdj/?utm_medium=copy_link

[theatremouse]

ID identity columns don't lie, Novak. 

Plus the country hopping with photographic evidence.

Dude hasn't a leg to stand on. It'd be hilarious if his lies got him banned from Australia, not just like this week, but like, sorry no you can't come here anymore at all because you lie in multiple ways on our entry forms.

[NUguy514]

1 hour ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Novaxx defends himself. Poorly.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYnO7cDqbdj/?utm_medium=copy_link

He's either lying on Instagram, or he lied on the official documents he submitted to the court because he declared in those court documents that he was tested and received his positive diagnosis on December 16th.

Honestly, the motherfucker is lying in all ways because he clearly never had COVID last month.  Is Jeff Gillooly fully vaccinated and available for travel?  I have a job for him...

I kid!

Sort of.

[wanderingstar]

Me every time Novak says something:

[CountryGirl]

[woodstock]

Great commentary on the Novak situation

It also mentions other athletes - Aaron Rodgers, Kyrie Irving, and Lebron James - and how their statements, decisions, and behavior have influenced the craziness around Covid and vaccinations.

Sports leagues and governing bodies are also called out.

The commentator brings up a good point about how the tennis powers that be treated Naomi Osaka last year compared to how they have treated Djokovic.

 I probably won’t watch any of the Aussie Open to avoid the Djokovic coverage.

[NUguy514]

Alex Hawke just canceled Djoker's visa, and he timed this announcement (right before 6:00PM Friday Melbourne time) perfectly: it's just so wonderfully shitty to Djoker since it'll be hard to get his appeal heard on the weekend.  Djoker can and, I'm sure, will appeal, but because Hawke canceled his visa using the Migration Act, Djoker's going to have a really hard time appealing successfully.  I have some feelings right now.

I mean, I'll fully unclench once he's really and truly and officially 157,000% unable to play, but this is so incredibly satisfying.

[Danny Franks]

It's about time some of these anti-vaxx celebrities experienced real world consequences for their self-absorbed, thoughtless decisions and their parroting of whatever non-scientific bunk they've chosen to believe.

But unfortunately this will just reinforce Djokovic's victim mentality and make the chip on his shoulder even bigger. I imagine he'll double down on all the shit he believes.

[cambridgeguy]

I'm assuming that the government believes it has an airtight case this time.  It would be a stunning display of incompetence if this decision gets reversed again.

[shok]

5 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

Alex Hawke just canceled Djoker's visa, and he timed this announcement (right before 6:00PM Friday Melbourne time) perfectly: it's just so wonderfully shitty to Djoker since it'll be hard to get his appeal heard on the weekend.  Djoker can and, I'm sure, will appeal, but because Hawke canceled his visa using the Migration Act, Djoker's going to have a really hard time appealing successfully.  I have some feelings right now.

I mean, I'll fully unclench once he's really and truly and officially 157,000% unable to play, but this is so incredibly satisfying.

Nah, it wasn't particularly good timing and of course Djokovic will get his hearing on a weekend. Hell, within two hours they had a hearing started with the judge that was so pro Djerk last Monday. Djerk gets to stay in his fancy villa tonight but then has to report to Border Services at 8:00 am tomorrow for an interview with Immigration and to be taken back into detention.

Then he's being allowed to spend the rest of the morning working with his lawyers to prepare for a Sunday hearing. He DOES have to got back to the detention hotel Saturday night and then be taken to the courts on Sunday for the court hearing.

The crazy-assed Serbian fans are going to riot and burn down the detention hotel on Saturday. Count on it. And how is that going to affect the judgment of the judge presiding over this special hearing???

But sure, got a hundred million dollars. You can get a weekend interview and hearing and court case. Nothing like the other refugees in that hotel who have been waiting as long as nine years for a hearing.

[khyber]

[caracas1914]

I'd buy the Government's new stance, that he poses a public "risk".

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/australia-declares-djokovic-a-risk-to-civil-order-and-public-health-20220114-p59oex.html