It seems the Australians are talking a good game, looking tough and pumping the pulpit, and Djoker is slowly inching his way into the tournament. His paperwork is obviously an issue, in that whatever is in there, it's not wholly compatible with some directive regarding Covid, or it's okay here but not there, with regards to Australian authorities - he wouldn't be held up like this otherwise. Generally, the first resistance he meets on this would be sufficient to get the common man sent home, because they're no saps at the arrivals hall in any airport. They smell a rat, and the rat gets caged, then deported.
But Novak has the money to fight this and the team to find loopholes, and he's still there, until Monday at least, but quite possibly for longer. There is also the very serious threat of his gangsta daddy and his fighting army of proud Serbians taking to the streets and starting a worldwide revolution. Backed by the measured judgments of the Serbian PM.
From Novak's perspective, this is a PR catastrophe of epic proportions. Some people are seeing him as hero for fighting Australia's Dickensian Covid policies, but as Steve Tignor pointed out on tennis.com, Novak isn't standing on an anti-vaccine, or pro-vaccine choice, issue at all. He's claiming that he's not vaccinated because of medical issues, and not because of choice. I'd have admired him to the hilt if he'd the integrity to defend his alleged principles, but that moment has passed. Was he unaware that his attempted route to Australia would be such a personal disaster for him? Did he think his attempt to pass himself medically unable to take the vaccine would fool everyone? Did he know he'd face such ridicule and anger from almost everyone? Does he not see that he's claiming immense privilege for himself that's denied to Australians themselves? Is his ambition so blinding that he blinded himself, totally?
We've often seen that Novak believes he can slide around rules without them being applied against him. We can imagine how he's trying to cajole, bully and buy his way out of quarantine, and onto the Melbourne Park courts. Remember this?
I've begun to wonder if he gets to play, how his fellow players will react to him being there. Will anyone refuse to play him? And how all this might further affect him. He can be quite brittle at times...
It's true Omicron is very mild. So mild that even unvaxxed I didn't get it.