That probably contributed to things, but the one time I was in Serbia, back when it was still part of Yugoslavia, I got the impression that even without an active war and all that the place had more than its share of corruption, thuggery, and wackos. I mean, it wasn’t as bad as right-wing America today, but it was pretty freaky.
I sort of hope that Djokovic does get in, just so I could see the constant barrage of booing rain down on him for the whole tournament. I don’t watch tennis but i would certainly watch that.
I mean, that’s only slightly worse than how he’s always been treated by the fans, with a few exceptions here and there. At least now there’s a good reason for it.
Some hyperbole there of course—crowds have rarely been outright hostile toward him (though the fact I have to put the ‘rarely’ qualifier in there is important)—but he’s always been a famously unloved player outside of Serbia.
Shocking, but Canada (!) beat Russia 2-1 and are in the ATP Cup final against Spain. Medvedev won his match against FAA easily, but Shapovalov survived a 3-setter against Safiullin, then the Canadian pair beat the Russian pair in doubles.
Edit:
In Melbourne, Nadal is through to the final after playing just two matches, one against Berankis and one against Ruusuvuori. He will face American Maxime Cressy (!), who beat Dimitrov to reach his first ATP final.
This is quite a good balanced piece on Djokovic’s basic nuttiness, and how it collides with a global health emergency. For those who are interested.
The summary caption is unfortunate IMO. It isn’t particularly sympathetic to Djokovic’s view.
Explaining why you’re writing an article humanizing an anti vaxxer with the following statement made me throw up in my mouth just a little, thanks:
“I guess because the most radical thing you can currently do is try to see both sides.”
Nadal beats Cressy in one final, while Monfils beats Khachanov in the other. For both men, it is their 18th season with at least one ATP final, and I think it is Nadal’s 18th season with at least one title.
Well, my guy Cressy might not have got the win, but making the final puts him solidly in the top 100 so bye-bye challenger tour and Grand Slam qualifiers for him.
Elsewhere, FAA beats RBA while PCB loses to, err, DS as Canada sweeps aside Spain for the ATP Cup.
All because RN DX’ed the ATPC for a chance at MSS instead.
I’m just glad that baseball’s monopoly on inscrutable abbreviations is coming to an end.
Highlighting the advance of players like Cressy.
Seems likely they will boot him again under the minister’s personal power. The government lawyers advised that in court. If that happens, he’d be banned from entering Australia for 3 years. So it’s possible he’ll pack up and go home now, before they can do that.
Hopefully.
edit: Tennis-Jesus will lick some balls
I think it’s unlikely they’ll boot him, since it seems unnecessary escalation.
But also, this is crazy:
Yeah, his anti-vaxism seems to go further, to a kind of COVID denialism. Or maybe it’s just a notion of privilege, that rules don’t apply to him. Very bad either way.
It would be far better for everyone, including him, if the tennis world simply mandated vaccination as a condition of playing, and thereby forced him to make the choice.
A friend sent me this video this morning, which runs through some of Djokovic’s more outlandish beliefs, though I suspect it covers some of the same ground as the Guardian article above. It is at least worth it for the line “While Djokovic is against any form of drug, Agassi seems to have been a fan of all of them” when discussing the two’s respective autobiographies in the context of Agassi stepping down as Novak’s coach due to Novak’s interest in alternative healing practices.
It would be so easy for him to just get vaccinated and not have to go through this again when the French rolls around (and Wimbledon, and then the US Open, not to mention the smaller tournaments in between). On the other hand, I’m pretty sure he started getting into this sort of thing during his (in relative terms) slump and so credits all this guru alternative health nonsense for his becoming the greatest man to ever pick up a racket. But it’s super perplexing and frustrating for anyone watching from the sidelines. Well, except for other anti-vaxxers I guess.
If I am reading the summary from the BBC correctly, the appeal went Djoker’s way on a procedural technicality - he was given 50 minutes less than usual to provide the border force a reason why his exemption should be considered.
If the underlying reason for the original visa denial isn’t in play but rather a technical item, I’m not so sure he won’t get the visa cancelled again. The government has kind of committed to its hand so dropping off for the reason of a technicality would be an interesting choice.