Competitor has sharp criticism: Djokovic "makes the majority look like a fool"

Created: 01/13/2022, 10:53 AM

From: Tobias Utz, Daniel Dillmann

Can he play or not?

The Djokovic case develops into a hanging game.

Meanwhile, a competitor sharply criticized him.

• The draw for the first round of the Australian Open * has taken place.

• Novak Djokovic is in the pot, but his participation is far from certain.

  The tennis star is not vaccinated against Corona *.

• Alexander Zverev * meets Daniel Altmaier in a German duel.

  Angelique Kerber takes on Kaia Kanepi

+++ 10.45 a.m.:

Tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas has sharply criticized Novak Djokovic for his request for special treatment at the Australian Open.

“Nobody would have thought that you could just come to Australia unvaccinated and not follow the protocol they say.

It's very daring to do that and risk participating in a Grand Slam, ”Tsitsipas told Ntv.

Novak Djokovic in action.

(Archive Photo) © William West / AFP

The appearance of Djokovic is a fatal signal, said the Greek athlete.

"Every individual, a very small minority, has decided to go their own way, which makes the rest, the majority, look kind of fools," Tsitsipas said in an interview.

Australian Open: Djokovic has first opponent - Kerber with a lot of bad luck at the draw

+++ 9.40 a.m.:

At the start of the Australian Open, Olympic champion Alexander Zverev will meet his compatriot Daniel Altmaier on Monday, as the draw on Thursday showed. The other German participants had some challenging opponents, for example Jan-Lennard Struff, who was in 51st position, plays on the current number 57, the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. Dominik Koepfer from Furtwang first duels with Spaniard Carlos Taberner, while Oscar Otte from Cologne faces Tseng Chun Hsin from Taipei. In addition, Peter Gojowczyk will play against Benjamin Bonzi from France, Philipp Kohlschreiber will play against the Italian Marco Cecchinato.

In the women's category, Angelique Kerber, who was seeded at number 16, was drawn to a tough opening opponent for her first-round match with Kaia Kanepi from Estonia.

In addition to the Melbourne winner from 2016, Andrea Petkovic is also set, who takes on the role of outsider against the world number four Barbora Krejcikova from the Czech Republic.

In addition, Tatjana Maria meets against the Greek Maria Sakkari, who goes into the tournament as number five in the world.

• First round meetings of the men:

• Alexander Zverev (Hamburg / No.3) - Daniel Altmaier (Kempen)

• Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein) - Botic van de Zandschulp (Netherlands)

• Dominik Koepfer (Furtwangen) - Carlos Taberner (Spain)

• Oscar Otte (Cologne) - Tseng Chun Hsin (Taipei)

• Peter Gojowczyk (Munich) - Benjamin Bonzi (France)

• Philipp Kohlschreiber (Augsburg) - Marco Cecchinato (Italy)

• First round encounters for women:

• Angelique Kerber (Kiel / No. 16) - Kaia Kanepi (Estonia)

• Andrea Petkovic (Darmstadt) - Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic / No. 4)

• Tatjana Maria (Bad Saulgau) - Maria Sakkari (Greece / No. 5)

Australian Open: Djokovic before Serbian first-round duel - if he can play

First report from January 13th, 2022, 8.30 a.m.:

Melbourne - Novak Djokovic already has an opponent.

The 34-year-old tennis player would meet his Serbian compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of the Australian Open - if he was allowed to play.

A decision on whether Djokovic will be allowed to compete in the first Grand Slam of the year should be made on Thursday (January 13th).

The tennis tournament in Australia is scheduled to start on Monday *.

Novak Djokovic is actually number one for the Australian Open.

But the tennis superstar is still not vaccinated against Corona *.

Such a vaccination is necessary according to Australian law in order to obtain a valid visa.

The final decision on Djokovic's residence status and thus indirectly also on his participation in the tennis tournament has Alex Hawke, Australian Minister for Immigration.

But that is still not certain, which is why the draw for the first round of the Australian Open took place with an hour delay.

Australian Open: is Novak Djokovic playing or not?

But now the tournament tree of the Australian Open is set.

Alexander Zverev is on the same half as Novak Djokovic.

As at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and at the US Open, the two could meet in the semifinals.

In Tokyo, the undisputed number one of German tennis prevailed against Djokovic.

In New York (USA *), on the other hand, the Serb was ahead of the game.

Zverev meets Daniel Altmaier in a German duel in the first round.

Novak Djokovic trains in Melbourne.

It will soon be decided whether he will be allowed to play at the Australian Open.

© Diego Fedele / imago

The preparation for the Australian Open could hardly have gone worse for Novak Djokovic.

The number one in the world rankings was stopped on arrival at the airport and initially taken to a deportation hotel because the border guards did not have enough documents for his medical exemption.

Djokovic successfully defended himself against the decision in court on Monday and has since trained in Melbourne.

He has already won the Australian Open nine times and is the defending champion.

A total of 20 Grand Slam victories have already been recorded for Djokovic.

A win at the Australian Open would make him the sole record holder and thus probably the best tennis player of all time.

Australian Open: The winners in the men's individual tournament

Australian Open: The mood is clearly against Novak Djokovic

Should Novak Djokovic still compete at the Australian Open despite all the quarrels, he will have to be prepared for a few whistles from the audience in "Down Under".

His sympathy values ​​must have clearly suffered under the vaccination farce.

This is also proven by a recording from Australian television, more precisely from the station "Channel 7".

In preparation for their show, Rebecca Maddern and Mike Amor chatted about the tennis star - and they became very clear.

“No matter how you approach the matter.

He's a lying, devious ... ", says Maddern and Amor adds:" Asshole. "The two spend more than a minute insulting Djokovic and tearing apart his defense.

On Wednesday, Djokovic admitted that he took part in an interview in Serbia in December despite knowing that the corona test was positive.

In addition, there is an "unintentional" false declaration on his entry form regarding his travel activities before the flight to Melbourne.

(dil / tu with AFP / SID / dpa / epd)