Novak Djokovic Might Suffer Another Setback After Winning Court Battle in Australia

20-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic finally managed to come to Australia after securing a medical exemption. Djokovic was looking forward to defending his title at the Australian Open, of which he is a 9-time winner.

However, things were not so easy for him, as the border authorities stopped him upon landing in Melbourne. Not only did they detain him for almost 8 hours, but they also canceled his visa. Furthermore, they also threatened Novak Djokovic with immediate deportation.

The ruling is finally out in the Novak Djokovic case

Following these events, the Serb’s legal team moved the federal court to appeal the visa cancellation. Judge Anthony Kelly presided over the proceedings which took place on Thursday last week and today.

Judge Anthony Kelly has finally made his ruling, and it is in favor of Novak Djokovic. Kelly showed a lot of sympathy for the champion, even going so far as to ask “what more could this man have done” to play in Australia.

In fact, he also took the immigration office to task, asking them why they did not allow Djokovic to seek legal counsel with his lawyers and Tennis Australia.

Per the judge’s orders, Djokovic was allowed out of his detention center and meet with his lawyers in a separate location. He will go back to the center after the legal proceedings are over.

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The decision is resoundingly clear- Novak Djokovic has won his case. Judge Kelly called his visa’s cancellation ‘unreasonable’ and ordered that the Serbian star be released immediately.

Djokovic isn’t quite in the clear yet

Despite the judge’s orders clearly leaning in Novak Djokovic’s favor, things might continue to be difficult for the Serb. Even though the ministry will quash the visa cancellation per legal order, they will now consider a personal power to cancel Novak Djokovic’s visa yet again.

As a matter of fact, the government does hold the right to cancel Novak’s visa through a minister, who holds the personal right to do so. Moreover, Judge Kelly acknowledged this right of the government and demanded to be informed in case they decide to go ahead with the cancellation yet again.

Now, even after the proceedings, clarity still eludes every party involved. If the government were to re-cancel Djokovic’s visa, it would also come with a 3-year ban from the country. Thus, it would mean that the Australian Open would not see its greatest champion until 2025.

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