DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Novak Djokovic arrived early Monday in Dubai after his deportation from Australia over its required COVID-19 vaccination ended the No. 1-ranked males’s tennis participant’s hopes of defending his Australian Open title.
The Emirates airplane carrying Djokovic touched down after a 13 ¹/₂-hour flight from Melbourne, where he had argued in court he should be allowed to stay in the country and compete within the match beneath a medical exemption resulting from a coronavirus an infection final month.
At Dubai Worldwide Airport, arriving passengers carrying necessary face masks collected their luggage and walked out of the cavernous terminal. Over an hour after Djokovic’s flight arrived, he didn’t come out of luggage declare as many passengers from his airplane already had picked up their luggage on the carousel.
It wasn’t instantly clear the place Djokovic deliberate to journey subsequent. The Dubai Obligation Free tennis match, which Djokovic gained in 2020, doesn’t begin till Feb. 14.
Dubai, the business capital of the United Arab Emirates, doesn’t require vacationers to be vaccinated, although they have to present a damaging PCR take a look at to board a flight.
Djokovic had gained 9 Australian Open titles, together with three in a row, and a complete of 20 Grand Slam singles trophies, tied with rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for probably the most within the historical past of males’s tennis. Federer will not be taking part in whereas recovering from damage, and Nadal is the one former Australian Open males’s champion within the match that started Monday.
Djokovic’s visa was initially canceled on Jan. 6 by a border official who determined he didn’t qualify for a medical exemption from Australia’s guidelines for unvaccinated guests. He was exempted from the match’s vaccine guidelines as a result of he had been contaminated with the virus throughout the earlier six months.
He gained an attraction to remain for the match, however Australia’s immigration minister later revoked his visa. Three Federal Court docket judges determined unanimously Sunday to affirm the immigration minister’s proper to cancel Djokovic’s visa.
Vaccination amid the pandemic was a requirement for anybody on the Australian Open, whether or not gamers, their coaches or anybody on the match website. Greater than 95 % of all High 100 women and men of their excursions’ respective rankings are vaccinated. No less than two males — American Tennys Sandgren and Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert — skipped the primary main match of the 12 months because of the vaccine requirement.
Djokovic’s try and get the medical exemption for not being vaccinated sparked anger in Australia, the place strict lockdowns in cities and curbs on worldwide journey have been employed to attempt to management the unfold of the coronavirus for the reason that pandemic started.
