NFL icon and Tampa Bay Buccaneers darling quarterback Tom Brady recently took to Instagram to extend his support to the Tennis great Novak Djokovic. Djokovic has been facing a lot of backlashes, especially from Australian citizens, for his unvaccinated status.
According to Australian immigration rules, any non-Australian entering the country must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. People in Australia had faced months of harsh lockdown and were furious at the Tennis star’s approach. Australia believes in no exceptions and has been imposing strict protocols to ensure the lowest death rates in the world.
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Djokovic, on the other hand, hasn’t been vaccinated prior to his Australian Open appearance. Yet he was exempted on medical grounds after he reportedly told the authority of his positive status as of 17th of December.
However, World’s No. 1 tennis player had his visa canceled by the border authorities upon his arrival in Australia because he failed to meet the country’s vaccine requirements.
The court ruled in favor of Djokovic
Djokovic was kept in immigration detention in a hotel in Melbourne until his court hearing. The court ruled in the Serb’s favor, who was then free to compete in the Australian Open. The defending champion, following his hearing, took to social media.
“I am pleased and grateful that the Judge overturned my visa cancellation. Despite all that has happened in the past week, I want to stay and to try to compete at the Australian Open.”
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“I remain focused on that. I flew here to play at one of the most important events we have in front of the amazing fans. For now I cannot say more but THANK YOU for standing with me through all this and encouraging me to stay strong,” Djokovic posted on Instagram.
Tom Brady supports Novak Djokovic
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“Good Luck,” commented the NFL great Tom Brady on his Instagram post, extending his love and support to World’s No. 1 tennis player. Djokovic has won 20 Grand Slams in his career so far, out of which he won nine in Australia itself. If the 20 time Grand Slam winner plays and wins the Australian Open, he would have the most number of Grand Slams of all time.
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However, the immigration minister of Australia could still exercise personal power to cancel his visa, which includes a three-year ban from entering Australia, revealing that there could be a possibility of Djokovic not playing in the Australian Open. However, with the Australian Open starting from the 16th of January, we need to see how the whole drama plays out in the coming few days.