‘Might Give Us a Couple of Boos’: Australian Women’s Basketball Team on Backlash Due to Novak Djokovic Fiasco

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has dealt with a lot of stuff lately. He was sent back from Australia for having his visa rejected twice in a span of a couple of weeks. The focus from tennis shifted and it became a talking point all over the world. 

Now, the Australian women’s basketball team is scheduled to travel to Serbia where they are set to contest a FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament. Basketball Australia (BA) has assessed security measures as it does before any international trip.

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Decision on Novak Djokovic makes matters tricky 

However, this case is different due to the Australian government’s recent decision to cancel the visa of Serbia’s most notable athlete, Novak Djokovic. Recently, a few members of the team spoke on this subject and revealed that they would be prepared for any kind of awkward encounter. 

Sam Whitcomb stated, “I’m sure there’ll be a few Novak fans that if they know we’re from Australia might give us a couple of boos or whatever but I’m not super worried about it otherwise.” Teammate Darcee Garbin added, “I know that we’re going to do all the right things, follow all the protocols and guidelines put in place, so I’m not too concerned about that.”

Coming to tennis and Djokovic, had he been allowed to compete in Melbourne, he would be aiming to win the 10th Australian Open title, which would put him ahead of rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. 

Now that Novak isn’t there, fellow top seeds such as Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, and Stefanos Tsitsipas are still competing. It will be interesting to see how they perform now that the competition gets tougher. We wish all players the best of luck for the remainder of the tournament. 

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