Novak Djokovic’s opponent revealed amid Australian Open ‘train wreck’

The Australian Open draw has gone ahead despite the fact Novak Djokovic’s visa saga continues to threaten to destabilise the tournament.

Novak Djokovic desperately wants another grand slam title. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

The Australian Open draw has gone ahead with Novak Djokovic included despite the question of whether the World No. 1 will be deported hanging over the grand slam.

The draw was hit with a last-minute delay, taking place more than an hour after initially scheduled amid the drama over Djokovic’s visa.

The draw was meant to be held at 3pm on Thursday afternoon but it was cancelled “until further notice”.

The draw was meant to be held at 3pm on Thursday afternoon but organisers delayed it for 75 minutes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison was set to front reporters at 3.45pm amid speculation he would make an announcement about the deportation decision regarding Djokovic.

Instead, Mr Morrison refused to be drawn on the saga and dismissed a question over how long his government would drag it out.

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“I will refer to Minister Hawke’s most recent statement in that position hasn’t changed,” Mr Morrison told reporters on Thursday.

“These are personal ministerial powers able to be exercised by Minister Hawke. I don’t propose to make any further comment at this time.”

The world's media slammed the drama as the announcement of the Australian government's next steps drags into another day.

Sport’s Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim tweeted of the delay: “Calling this a train wreck would be an affront to the railroad industry...”

White House reporter Ksenija Pavlovic McAteer tweeted that it was “a political farce and a failure of the Australian political leadership”.

However, the draw got underway despite the cloud still hanging over the nine-time champion.

Djokovic has been drawn to face compatriot world No. 78 Miomir Kecmanovic, assuming he is allowed to stay.

1st round draw: (1) Novak Djokovic (Serbia)* v Miomir Kecmanovic (Serbia)
* subject to potential deportation by the federal government
What an absurd state of affairs.

— Oliver Brown (@oliverbrown_tel) January 13, 2022

Djokovic would be set to face 25th seed Lorenzo Sonego in the third round, Gael Monfils or 16th seed Cristian Garin in the fourth round, and Cameron Norrie (12th), Pablo Carreno Busta (19th), Carlos Alcaraz (31st) or Matteo Berrettini (7th) in the quarters.

Is this the answer the world has been waiting for? Photo by William West / AFP

Djokovic’s place as World No. 1 and thus the top seed of the tournament makes it difficult to replace him directly as the seedings would be subject to change if his visa is cancelled.

New York Times tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg said that it would be a tricky move to replace Djokovic, particularly after the draw is in place.

“Here’s a brief rule book thread on how it will work with seedings re: Djokovic, as his fate remains unknown,” Rothenberg said. “If Djokovic pulls out of #AusOpen in short time left before the draw (very unlikely), #2 Daniil Medvedev would become #1 seed.

“If Djokovic pulls out after #AusOpen draw but before Day 1 order of play is released, #5 Andrey Rublev would be moved to Line 1 of draw to take Djokovic’s slot. #17 Gael Monfils would move onto Rublev’s line, and Alexander Bublik would become #33 seed and move onto Monfils’ line.

“And, of course, if Djokovic takes court at the #AusOpen for any of his matches, he would continue in the tournament until he is pulled out, loses, or wins the thing. He would not be replaced mid-tournament; his next opponent would simply be given a walkover into the next round.”

The world now awaits the decision of Immigration Minister Alex Hawke.

Djokovic, who is unvaccinated, received a medical exemption to compete in the year’s first grand slam but when he touched down in Melbourne last week, was told by the Australian Border Force he had insufficient evidence to prove his exemption was justified.

The Serbian was kept in a Melbourne hotel until the end of Monday’s court hearing, when he was released from detention after Judge Anthony Kelly overturned his visa cancellation.

Novak Djokovic’s question has still not been answered. Picture: William West / AFP

Djokovic’s exemption was based on his and Tennis Australia’s belief that having contracted Covid-19 in the past six months was a valid reason to not be vaccinated. However, that sparked mass confusion and sparked a blame game as his saga dragged on for more than a week.

Appearing on Sunrise on Thursday, Djokovic’s mother Dijana addressed her son’s unwillingness to be vaccinated.

“Novak is 34-35, even me as a mother I don’t have any choice to make pressure on him,” she said.

“He has his own philosophy of his life. If he thinks like that, I can just say OK.

“I know that Novak is the most healthiest guy in the world, like a sportsman. He takes care of his life and his body so much that nobody can even imagine how. He’s so dedicated to this sport and dedicated to what he’s doing. He’s playing tennis and he wants to stay on the court and I know he is doing everything to take care of his body to stay healthy.

“I don’t know what is the problem if he doesn’t want to get vaccinated. That’s his choice and each person in this world has the opportunity to make a choice. This is like human rights. You cannot pursue him or pressure him to do this.”

Where the Australians are drawn

Ash Barty has a tough draw ahead of her. Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images

Aussie World No. 1 Ash Barty’s side of the draw will feature 5th seed Maria Sakkari, 9th seed Ons Jabeur, 13th seed Naomi Osaka, 21st seed Jessica Pegula, 22nd seed Belinda Bencic, 28th seed Veronika Kudermetova and 30th seed Camila Giorgi.

Barty could face Giorgi in round three, two-time Australian Open champion Osaka or Bencic in the fourth round, or the remainder in the quarterfinals.

Ajla Tomljanovic is on the same side of the draw to Barty but would only face her in the semi-finals, and has a difficult first round against 8th seed Paula Badosa.

Aussie Astra Sharma faced Denmark’s World 41 Clara Tauson in the first round, while Daria Saville plays World 93 ranked Swede Rebecca Peterson, Maddison Inglis will play 27th seed and US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, Priscilla Hon plays 31st seed Marketa Vondrousova and Storm Sanders plays 2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka.

Sam Stosur plays American wildcard and world No. 172 Robin Anderson in what will be her final Australian Open campaign.

On the men’s side, John Millman is set to play Feliciano Lopez, to set up a second-round match most likely against 3rd seed Alexander Zverev, wildcard Aleksandar Vukic will play 30th seed Lloyd Harris, James Duckworth lines up against Adrian Mannarino, Jordan Thompson matches up against American Steve Johnson, Alexei Popyrin faces France’s Arthur Rinderknech, Alex Bolt plays Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Chris O’Connell plays Hugo Gardon and Nick Kyrgios faces a qualifier, ahead of a second-round match up against 2nd seed Daniil Medvedev.

32nd seed Alex di Minaur will play Lorenzo Musetti.

Thanasi Kokkinakis will play a qualifier, ahead of a second-round match up most likely against 6th seed Rafael Nadal.

If Djokovic stays, Nadal and the World No. 1 are lined up to face off in the semi-final.