Novak Djokovic is about to find out if he will be able to stay in Australia and play the Australian Open or if he will be expelled from the country for an illegal visa. The 3 judges presiding over the decisive hearing of the case in Melbourne – James Allsop, Anthony Besanko and David O’Callaghan – updated the hearing in which the 34-year-old Serbian and Australian government lawyers explained their respective positions. Djokovic’s visa was formally canceled yesterday by the Immigration Minister, Aex Hawke. The 34-year-old from Belgrade, no vax and landed in the country with a covid vaccine exemption, spent the night at the Park Hotel, the facility for irregular immigrants where he was confined after arriving in Melbourne, when his visa was issued. judged to be irregular at the airport controls.Waiting for the matter to be definitively clarified, the Australian Open has released the program of the first day: Djokovic, paired in the first round with his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic, should play in the evening program on Monday 17 January on the field of the Rod Laver Arena. At the hearing, Djokovic’s lawyers called Minister Hawke’s decision “irrational”: according to the government member, the tennis player’s stay in the country could fuel the no vax orientation in Australia. “It is irrational to contemplate just this prospect,” said attorney Nick Wood and without considering that “an anti-vax sentiment could be the consequence of coercive action by the state with visa cancellation and deportation.” Hawke’s decision, according to the lawyer, cannot be motivated by the belief that “the presence of Djokovic ‘could constitute’ a significant risk to public health” in Australia. In such a context, the cancellation of the visa would become an “irrational reaction” to the athlete’s position towards vaccination. Among other things, according to Wood, Djokovic would never have spoken out against the vaccine and, if he did, “he did it in a scrupulously private way”. The government, through its lawyers, has reaffirmed the closing position. Attorney Stephen Lloyd again stressed the effect that Djokovic’s stay could have. The Serbian, who said he was healed from the covid in mid-December, had a disrespectful behavior in the days following the infection, as evidenced by content published on his social channels. “The minister felt that Djokovic’s presence in Australia would lead people to imitate his apparent lack of respect for security measures,” Lloyd’s words. “People refer to high-level athletes to promote ideas and causes. I’m not saying that” Djokovic “is supporting a cause. But his connection with that cause, whether intentional or not, is still evident. presence in Australia could pose a risk “.