US OPEN 2021

What a prick

Djokovic almost thinks about it but stops just in time 😬 #USOpen pic.twitter.com/KnrTgbJJLt

— Tennis GIFs 🎾🎥 (@tennis_gifs) September 12, 2021

Really really would not have predicted straight sets, wow. But easy to underestimate the physical and mental toll of this whole year on Djokovic. First time I've really seen him run out of gas.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 12 September 2021 bookmarkflaglink

Del Potro softened Novak up for Murray at Wimbledon iirc.

Into my veins

Djokovic is in tears at the changeover. 😥 #usopen pic.twitter.com/UcwP6PQHrS

— Tennis GIFs 🎾🎥 (@tennis_gifs) September 12, 2021

only player to take a set off daniil: Botic van de Zandschulp

I love Medvedev’s “in my book, you’re the greatest player of all time” humble rag due to the unspoken “and I JUST BEAT YOU IN STRAIGHT SETS” that goes along with it

Only thing that could make me happier is if Novak gets covid before the Aus Open and isn't allowed in the country.

It's happening

BREAKING: Immigration Minister Alex Hawke says Novak Djokovic will NOT be allowed into Australia if he is not double vaccinated.
"Our health advice is that when we open the borders everyone that comes to Australia will have to be double vaccinated," Mr Hawke told @RNBreakfast.

— Stephanie Peatling (@srpeatling) October 19, 2021

👌

Novak Djokovic "probably won't" play the Australian Open in January over mandatory Covid vaccination rules, the world number one tennis player's father says, likening the restrictions to "blackmail" https://t.co/JJa8soGZCJ#AFPSports pic.twitter.com/p7cpVqN35O

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 28, 2021

be funny when roland garros follows suit

👏 make 👏 tennis majors 👏 cyberbully 👏 djokovic 👏 into 👏 getting 👏 jabbed

Today I'm hoping Russia (sorry, Russian Tennis Federation) and Spain can engineer a result that gets Serbia eliminated at the group stage of the Davis Cup :)

If my sums are right, the Russians only need one game (i.e. 0-6 1-6) from the doubles vs Spain to qualify ahead of Serbia. They've already held serve at the start so... maybe take it easy now. (A Russian win = Spain go out, Serbia progress).

Karatsev/Rublev didn't read the script last night - beat Lopez/Granollers 46 62 64, putting the co-hosts out and allowing Serbia through.

I s'pose I should move this to the non-Slam tennis thread, as it's no longer adhering to the "laugh at Novak" theme :/

If covid is a significant factor by Spring I wouldn't be surprised if RG follow but I expect only Australia will be hardline about this. This follows from their hard border approach from the start.

He should've been banned by the ATP for bringing the game into disrepute. Interesting to see how many more players are banned from Australia for this. Djoko can't be the only one.

yeah I think the ATP said a few weeks ago the vaccination rate among players was only around 65%?

afaik medvedev still hasn't said whether he's vaccinated or not. tsitsipas and thiem only recently reluctantly agreed to get vaccinated after it became clear that it was going to be necessary for them to compete.

and a bunch of the US players are vocal trump supporters, so quite likely a few of them haven't gotten vaxxed either.

Lol what a surprise

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jan/04/novak-djokovic-secures-medical-exemption-to-play-in-australian-open-tennis

this has turned into a massive clusterfuck and I am here for it

https://www.theage.com.au/national/visa-bungle-delays-novak-djokovic-s-entry-into-australia-20220105-p59m75.html

Djoko being imprisoned in an Aussie jail would be best, yes.

prison abolitionism*

*except for the djoker

Lol federal government and state government both trying to stick each other in it meanwhile Djokovic languishes in a room in the airport

prison abolitionism*

*except for the djoker

― class project pat (m bison), Wednesday, 5 January 2022 bookmarkflaglink

That's right

As Novak Djokovic's detention at Melbourne Airport extends beyond six hours, his father Srdan tells media, via @sunriseon7: 'They are holding my son captive. If they don't release him in the next half an hour, we will fight them on the street.'

— Oliver Brown (@oliverbrown_tel) January 5, 2022

end police brutality*

*except for the djokovic family

He’s being deported

Breaking: Novak Djokovic's visa has been cancelled. He's been told to leave the country today, two sources confirmed to @theage. His Lawyers are in the process of appealing. He's not demonstrated to Border Force sufficient evidence for his exemption https://t.co/TM5BF0Gu80

— Paul Sakkal (@paulsakkal) January 5, 2022

poochie had to go back to his home planet

wow / lol @ all this

wowwww

hahahahaha this has cheered me no end.

On Djokovic, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has released a statement:

"I told our Novak that the whole of Serbia is with him and that our bodies are doing everything to see that the harassment of the world's best tennis player is brought to an end immediately."

— Maria Flannery (@mariaflan) January 5, 2022

yikes better hope austria doesn't get involved

This is the best early birthday present I could have imagined

This is the best early birthday present I could have imagined

You and me both. :D

I just woke up and my twitter TL is a mess lol

Novak’s dad Srdjan to Serbian outlets: “Tonight they can throw him in a dungeon, tomorrow they can put him in chains. The truth is he is like water and water paves its own path. Novak is the Spartacus of the new world which won’t tolerate injustice, colonialism and hypocrisy.”

trenchant social commentary

Rafael Nadal's full answer today on Djokovic's situation.

"From my point of view, the only thing that I can say is I believe in what the people who knows about medicine says, and if the people says that we need to get vaccinated, we need to get the vaccine." pic.twitter.com/n9nIjDhcfC

— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) January 6, 2022

Proud to be an Australian

#BREAKING Australia will not immediately deport tennis world number one Novak Djokovic, a government lawyer tells a court hearing Thursday. The star remains in immigration detention pic.twitter.com/Zf70ZUwTVJ

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 6, 2022

We’ve got Djokovic supporters on the left and refugee advocates on the right.
One Djokovic supporter just said to me “I feel so ignorant. I came here for him, and find out they’ve been locked up nine years. It’s so wrong.” pic.twitter.com/elBDkJAZEl

— Cait Kelly (@cait__kelly) January 6, 2022

I know this account does a lot of fake humour but...surely not

Gotta make sure that anyone who hasn’t read the Novak Djokovic bread story reads the Novak Djokovic bread story pic.twitter.com/gTVat8rpf8

— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) January 6, 2022

Yeah, that's a famous story.

lol it’s not even the wackiest thing he believes in: https://ftw.usatoday.com/2020/05/novak-djokovic-psuedoscience-babble

20 grand slam titles, so who's to say etc.

Friday's Metro: "Prisoner cell Djok H" #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday https://t.co/7FuHsAa3Vz pic.twitter.com/TAxSZZYhBS

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) January 6, 2022

Lol

In Belgrade with the Djokovic family. Waiting for the result of the visa hearing, watch this space. 🇷🇸 pic.twitter.com/S8dACn9U3z

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) January 9, 2022

:D

Please record the awkward moment when you tell them you’ve spent most of your career campaigning to have people from Eastern Europe deported.😉 https://t.co/rfFn1hdXlu

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) January 9, 2022

get his ass, andy

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jan/10/novak-djokovic-wins-appeal-against-decision-to-cancel-his-australian-visa

Hopefully he won't compete. Jail would've been good but I'll take that.

sadly, he will definitely compete and will probably win the tournament again - Djokovic relishes being the villain more than anything else (my totally unscientific analysis: he didn't get the Golden Slam last year because he was getting too much positive attention at the Olympics lol).