Australian Open organisers insisted that they would not help Novak Djokovic obtain a visa for January's tournament – before adding that Russian and Belarusian players are free to participate.
Tournament director Craig Tiley was asked about Djokovic at the official launch of the 2023 event. He passed them upstairs to the new Labor government, which will have to decide whether to cancel Djokovic's three-year visa ban.
"It's not a matter we can lobby on," said Tiley. "Novak and the federal government need to work out the situation and then we'll follow any instruction after that. It's a matter that definitely stays between the two of them, and then depending on the outcome of that we would welcome him to the Australian Open.
"I did spend some time with Novak at the Laver Cup," Tiley added. "He said that he'd obviously love to come back to Australia, but he knows it's going to be a decision for the federal government."
Tiley's comments came two days after a former government official who played a role in deporting Djokovic last January said that allowing him to enter in 2023 would be a "slap in the face" of vaccinated Australians. Karen Andrews, who was home affairs minister under the Liberals, said on Australian breakfast TV on Monday that Djokovic should not be "allowed back into the country simply because he is a high-ranking tennis player with many millions of dollars".
Were Djokovic able to enter Australia, he would arrive in Melbourne as the runaway favourite to lift his 22nd major title. He has won the Australian Open a record nine times, and has shown his class recently by landing back-to-back ATP titles in Tel Aviv and Astana.
Djokovic's problem is that his deportation earned him an automatic three-year visa ban which can only be overturned by top officials. Last month, a story appeared in one Australian newspaper saying that he was likely to be given the green light by the Labor government, which took office at the end of May. But there have been no further developments since, despite
Djokovic's comment at the Laver Cup that "I'm hoping I can get some positive news soon".
Meanwhile, the Australian Open is to accept Russian and Belarusian players if they compete as neutrals and do not expect their flags to appear on the scoreboard, nor their anthem to be played if they win.
These are the same conditions that have been applied by every tournament since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the exception of the British grass-court events. And they seem destined to remain in force, as long as the conflict lasts.
While the All England Club was carpeted for excluding Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon – with the tours stripping ranking points from the tournament – there are many who feel it was the right decision. "My nation is being killed daily," said Marta Kostyuk, the Ukrainian No 2, after a testy match against Belarusia's Victoria Azarenka at the recent US Open, which ended with the pair tapping rackets rather than shaking hands.
"I just don't think it's the right thing to do in the circumstances I'm in right now," added Kostyuk, when asked about the lack of a handshake after the match. "I don't know any single person [in tennis] who condemned the war publicly, and the actions of their government, so I don't feel like I can support this."
