A Sorry Nation’s Penal Dysfunction: Australia’s Treatment of a Hero Achiever

Note: This is a two-part essay — with the first one a response from my son to the Djokovic saga, and the second one is mine.

Sudhanva Rao

As the Australian Open matches continue to be played and Novak Djokovic has officially left the continent of Australia it is best to take a moment to evaluate the events of the past three weeks and point out the absurdity of the situation that Tennis Australia, the Australian Government in Canberra, the State Government of Victoria, and the ATP have manufactured. We will have to ponder what the rest of the tennis world finds itself in. This is the only major tournament that we can think of where the number one player in the world for any sport is unable to participate not due to an injury or because of a personal volition. We are talking of the Federers and the Osakas here…

Novak Djokovic has been maligned, mocked, and criticized by much of the global sports media and the global mainstream media. And for the record, we doubt that the Djoker cares… but his fans do. We saw John McEnroe and some Australian journalists remark that this situation could have been avoided had the Australian government created clear, precise new rules and guidelines for the COVID situation. Instead, as has been pointed out by many, what resulted over the past two to three weeks since Djokovic flew Down Under has been a series of news articles, public statements by government officials, the well-known and sundry tennis…