MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Following are reactions to Novak Djokovic being released from Australian immigration detention on Monday after winning a court challenge to revive his bid to win a record 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title at the Jan. 17-30 Australian Open.
DJOKOVIC’S FORMER MENTOR NIKI PILIC
“This whole ordeal was unnecessary. He was given the green light by Tennis Australia and doctors to play in the tournament and that’s when politics came in. If they revoked his visa now, I believe it would reflect poorly on Australia.
“Winning the Australian Open under the best circumstances is difficult, but Novak is a champion. I can’t say what his chances are after what he has endured, but I am sure he will be happy to just be on the court and start preparing for the tournament.”
RAFA NADAL, 20 TIMES GRAND SLAM CHAMPION
“Whether or not I agree with Djokovic on some things, justice has spoken and said he has the right to participate in the Australian Open and … it’s the fairest decision to do so, if it has been resolved that way. I wish him the best of luck.
“On a personal level, I’d much rather he didn’t play (laughs)… It’s all so much better when the best players are on the court competing.”
FORMER AUSTRALIAN PM KEVIN RUDD
“(Scott) Morrison just lost his case against #Djokovic. Total incompetence! Like on everything else. If they seriously didn’t want him, why on earth did they give him a visa to fly here? This was conceived as one giant distraction strategy when out in the real world people can’t get tested.”
FORMER AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHIEF EXECUTIVE PAUL MCNAMEE
“Djokovic has had his day in court, with all the evidence presented, and comprehensively won … let’s respect the court’s decision and move to the other court where sport is played.”
FORMER INDIAN PRO SOMDEV DEVVARMAN
“Novak vs the world. We’ve seen that before. This is different. If he ends up defending his title and getting to 21 slams, it’ll be one of the greatest tennis stories ever told.”
AMERICAN WORLD NUMBER 24 JOHN ISNER
“Only thing left to do is win the trophy again and leave town never to return …”
SPANISH PLAYER FELICIANO LOPEZ
“Judge Kelly solving the mess-disaster-absurdity that other parties involved have created. Tennis wins #AO2022.”
(Compiled by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
