On January 16, 2022, Beijing time, Chief Justice James Olthorpe, who represents the collegial panel of the Australian Federal Court, announced that Novak Djokovic failed to appeal and would not be able to participate in the 2022 Australian Open. After being ruled to be unsuccessful in the 2022 Australian Open, Djokovic issued a statement as soon as possible. While being very disappointed with the ruling, he also expressed respect for the Court's decision and would cooperate with the relevant authorities in leaving Australia.
Djokovic's statement read: "I am very disappointed by the ruling and the court rejected my application for judicial review of the Minister's decision to revoke my visa, which means I cannot stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open. I respect the court's decision and I will cooperate with the relevant authorities on my exit. The focus over the last few weeks has been on me and I'm feeling very uncomfortable and I hope we can all focus on the games and events that I love now. I wish all the players, tournament officials, staff, volunteers and fans all the best in the game. ”
On 18 November 2021, the Australian government granted Djokovic a visa, and on 2 January 2022, Djokovic was granted an entry pass from the Government of Victoria, Australia. After obtaining his entry pass, Djokovic flew from Spain to Melbourne via Dubai, but was interrogated and detained by the Australian Border Service on the night of arrival in Melbourne. Since then, Djokovic's visa affairs have been fermenting.
After the collegial hearing, the three judges unanimously ruled that Djokovic lost the case, which meant that Djokovic's team of lawyers would no longer be able to appeal to the full court of the Federal Court. Although Djokovic's lawyers could theoretically apply for special permission to the High Court, this possibility became zero because the Australian Open was due to start tomorrow and Djokovic was scheduled to appear on the first matchday as the top seed.
According to the latest news, Djokovic left Australia tonight and will take an Emirates flight back to Europe via Dubai at 22:30 local time (19:30 Beijing time). Although Djokovic has experienced too much in these 12 days, the smile on his face is still there. After Federer and Wawrinka were absent due to injury and Djokovic's visas were cancelled, there was only one former Australian Open champion left in the men's singles table – Nadal, who won at Melbourne Park in 2009.
In the last 17 editions of melbourne tours, Djokovic has won 9 titles and won 82 of them in 90 games. Missing the 2022 Australian Open will not only mean he will miss out on the opportunity to hit the 10th crown of the Australian Open, but will also miss the goal of locking in his 21st Grand Slam title again. Due to the failure to participate in the Australian Open this time, it means that his ATP points will be deducted directly by 2000 points. Djokovic, who currently occupies the world's number one throne, leads second-placeDimir Medvedev by 2,080 points and Zverev by 3,045 points (before 2,000 points are deducted). Therefore, after this Australian Open, the throne of the world's number one may change hands.
Djokovic has missed the Australian Open, and the official voice of the Australian Open: respect the decision of the Federal Court! Australian Open tournament director Terry still did not come forward, but only forwarded the tweet. The ATP official statement said the cancellation of the German visa was "a series of deeply regrettable events." The Australian Open official issued a brief statement on the incident, saying that according to the rules of the Grand Slam, the top seed in the signing table will be filled by the lucky loser, and the schedule updated on January 17 is already available on the official website. We look forward to the exciting 2022 Australian Open event and wish all the players the best of luck.