Djokovic case, a bad soap opera in which everyone loses

Whatever the ending of the Djokovic case will be, we can say that all the protagonists are making a bad impression. The affair has become an unprecedented international intrigue because transparency has immediately disappeared.

Let’s start with the protagonist: the number one in world tennis, convinced no vax, knew very well that to enter Australia it would be necessary to have completed the vaccination cycle. To get around the obstacle he tried to “exploit” the shortcut-exemption that was offered to him on a silver platter by the organizers of the first seasonal Grand Slam (and by the State of Victoria) for which the absence of the Serbian, nine times winner in Melbourne, it would also be a problem for the box office. The Belgrade champion, who after months of silence confirmed that he was not vaccinated, based the exemption on the fact that he would have contracted Covid for the second time on 16 December.

The presence at a public event the day after the declared positivity and the silence of family members on this issue in yesterday’s press conference, however, do nothing but fuel the mystery. The Australian government, taken from behind by its own compatriots, has tried to patch it up by rightly bringing Nole on the same level as all the mere mortals who ask to enter the country. But the handling of the first interrogation at the airport and everything that followed was at least clumsy. Not only that: after the sentence of the judge who “released” Novak yesterday morning, the government had to take an immediate decision. Either in or out of Australia. And instead nothing. Only the threat that the game remains open pending the pronouncement of the Minister of Immigration.

So Djokovic, radiant, trained at the Rod Laver Arena, one of the temples of tennis, posting the photo on social media with his team. While on the other side of the world, in Serbia, dad, mom and brother played the bass drum of the most important victory of his career. If it weren’t serious, it would seem to be witnessing a real soap opera. Meanwhile, the Australian Open remains hidden in the corner. Nobody talks about it and on Thursday the scoreboards should be drawn. Sunday night the first matches. There is a desire for tennis, finally.