Just curious what Australians feel about Djokovic

[wintermom]

Personally, I'm appalled he's even close to being allowed to stay in Australia. Is this a common feeling among Australians, or are there local fans that would welcome him to the tournament?

The measures your entire country have experienced to try and keep people healthy in your country have been realitively severe, compared to most countries. I can't imagine the sentiment is very supportive toward Djokovic, but maybe I'm wrong.

[Melissa Louise]

He's a ****, most people think he's a ****, most people also think the government are *****. 

Some people, besides his Dad, think he is the second coming, some Australian Serbs have national feeling about him, he has anti vax fans.

The entire debacle is a strategy to deflect from government incompetence re Covid.  

Personally, I've never liked the guy, nothing he does on or off the court endears him to me BUT he is being used politically  right now. 

Sadly, in the same hotel he was 'imprisoned' in for three days, are a handful of refugees who have been detained for nine YEARS. They hoped international attention might help their situation. Nah. 

I'll stick with Ash Barty.  Not a world dominating player ( I know she's officially still No. 1) but just a really good human. Also way prefer Rafa and Andy. 

No, I don't watch tennis 🙂 

This has been front page news for DAYS. 

 

[TravelingChris]

So I never went to Serbia when we lived in Europe, but the pool that we belonged to in our neighborhood in Virginia used to hire Serbian life guards because they were appropriately stern with rule breaking.  Both of my dd's actually really appreciated them because they were firm with the kids who were into horseplay.

I am not Australian but was woindering if there is a medical excuse to vaccination because of medical phobia-- apparently he is medically phobic-- kept delaying a necessary surgery until he couldn't play-- doesn't take meds= etc.  I am not even wondering about Australia now but in the US, is anybody getting exemptions because of medical phobia or needle phobia????  As my husband keeps mentioning, the constant shots of people getting vaccines can't really be helping the needle phobics.

[Melissa Louise]

Nah, he's a big wig anti vaxer loon who conveniently got and recovered from Covid just before entering AU. 

 

[TechWife]

1 minute ago, TravelingChris said:

So I never went to Serbia when we lived in Europe, but the pool that we belonged to in our neighborhood in Virginia used to hire Serbian life guards because they were appropriately stern with rule breaking.  Both of my dd's actually really appreciated them because they were firm with the kids who were into horseplay.

I am not Australian but was woindering if there is a medical excuse to vaccination because of medical phobia-- apparently he is medically phobic-- kept delaying a necessary surgery until he couldn't play-- doesn't take meds= etc.  I am not even wondering about Australia now but in the US, is anybody getting exemptions because of medical phobia or needle phobia????  As my husband keeps mentioning, the constant shots of people getting vaccines can't really be helping the needle phobics.

Look, my son literally faints every time he gets a shot, has a blood draw or IV line inserted - and he’s had a lot of each of them. He’s fainted twice for the COVID-19 vaccine and is scheduled to do it once more. We get his shots in a clinic for that reason - A pharmacy isn’t an option for him. He hates needles. He has gotten vaccinated without complaining - didn’t even consider not doing it. 

[wintermom]

@Melissa Louise Thanks so much for your comments, and sorry for asking as I know this must be annoying. I am completely in line with you - all except tennis, which I do enjoy playing and watching. 😉 

I was prompted to ask partly because on a Toronto, Canada local TV news article they were showing local Toronto supporters with Serbian flags, etc. It really annoyed me, as this is not a political issue. He's an athlete, not a politian or an embassador, though he does "represent" Serbia similarly to other international athletes represent the countries they are affiliated with. This "status" shouldn't allow them any special privileges. 

Re: medical phobia - that's rich! If he was at all concerned about the medical concerns for himself (we know he doesn't care about others), he'd not be out partying and organizing tournaments during a medical crisis. These were his actions before vaccines. No needles in the area, just lots of people in the world wondering why he was acting so recklessly against health precautions. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by wintermom

[regentrude]

In most countries, lying on the visa application is automatic grounds for refusal. All the Covid issues aside, he failed to disclose prior travel. Blaming it on "staff error" wouldn't fly with the US for example

 

[TravelingChris]

Just now, TechWife said:

Look, my son literally faints every time he gets a shot, has a blood draw or IV line inserted - and he’s had a lot of each of them. He’s fainted twice for the COVID-19 vaccine and is scheduled to do it once more. We get his shots in a clinic for that reason - A pharmacy isn’t an option for him. He hates needles. He has gotten vaccinated without complaining - didn’t even consider not doing it. 

I am not saying it is a legitimate excuse.  I am just wondering if anyone has heard anyone bring it up or get an excuse from vaccination because of it.   My two daughters used to faint with blood draws.  I think their bp is now high enough that they don't but I am familiar with that kind of issue.  

My MIL was very afraid of doctors.  It is why she died at 65 with a heart attack-where she was hospitalized than got a second heart attack or stroke or whatever and died.  She had high bp and other issues with her pregnancies but never went to a doctor because she was convinced that doctors kill people. (Her father died from kidney cancer, I believe and yeah, not much to do for that particularly in the early 70s.

[TravelingChris]

1 minute ago, regentrude said:

In most countries, lying on the visa application is automatic grounds for refusal. All the Covid issues aside, he failed to disclose prior travel. Blaming it on "staff error" wouldn't fly with the US for example

 

Oh I know.  I was explaining that to my husband.   I was an Immigration Officer at LAX and have my name on a plaque at the Federal Law Enforcement Center in Brunswick, GA because I was the highest scoring officer in my class-so I knew the laws super well.  

It is the same lame excuse that people use all the time with smuggling-  oh I didn't know what was in the suitcase, in my car, in my purse, in my pocket, etc.

[Melissa Louise]

@wintermom

Not annoying at all, you gave me the chance to vent! There have been protestors with Serbian flags etc. 

My spleen is mostly directed at the government, and the media, who are complying with the government's need for a distraction. 

[bookbard]

Yeah it's all political, and such a waste of time when there's more important things the government should be doing. I don't think the average person is concerned about it, compared with everything else going on. 

[TravelingChris]

In terms of sports, tennis seems to be one of the better ones to engage in during COVID.  Not much interaction with anyone except your own coach, etc.  I used to be a big tennis fan, and still watch sometimes.  Is Djokovich the guy who had the temper tantrum at the NY Open a few years ago?

[wintermom]

It is a really great distraction, that's for sure. Almost too good to be true. Maybe he has a different pay source for this tournament than just the tennis trounament organizers. 😉 

[Ausmumof3]

I’m not a Djokovic fan and we love tennis. I find him kind of arrogant but obviously an amazing player. Some random thoughts in no particular order.

There’s already some history of angst in Australia about the Aus Open going ahead last year while people still couldn’t get home to see dying relatives etc. One set of rules for the rich another for the poor.

Djokovic is an outspoken antivaxxer and also anti lockdown who has been flouting the rules for a while. 

Djokovic’s first response on getting caught for lying on paperwork was to blame his admin team for the human error. This is basically what I’d expect of him - blame someone else down below you.

It’s totally weird how involved his parents get.  He’s a grown adult dude he really doesn’t need his mum telling everyone he’s the Messiah and he’s being tortured. It kind of reminds me of the other tennis player - Jelena Dokic and makes me wonder if there’s some major cultural differences or something at play with parenting styles?

Going out to media interviews etc unmasked and positive shows a total disregard for other people.

Having said that, we have dealings with tennis Australia and they are totally disorganised as well. I fully suspect Craig Tiley was just trying to get around the rules and hoping it wouldn’t get noticed instead of dealing with it. Same thing last year with the Aus open - I remember him being on whinging about reduced crowd etc as peoples family were dying. It seemed pretty tone deaf given the huge amount of privilege going on that they were even allowed to hold it.

And basically it’s kind of irrelevant now. The rules were set up when local covid wasn’t much of a thing and now there’s such a total debacle on the ground here one international arrival is the least of our worries. It’s just a useful political distraction for the government that almost backfired majorly on them.

i feel really sorry for the other players. If he ends up being allowed to play and win he’s going to be kind of more unbearable than he already is. And if someone else wins because he’s been deported they will never feel like they really won fairly. And if he is allowed to stay and play and loses he will blame the stress in the lead-up. I do have to wonder what having Covid twice in such a short time will have done to his stamina but most likely he’s lucky and doing fine. I saw Rafa playing the other day and he seemed really off his game and just had a recent run-in with Covid as well. 

It has really soured the whole tournament for me and normally I really love it. I also can’t help comparing the treatment the female tennis players get. Can you imagine the media outcry if Serena tried what he’s done? I wish all the tennis players could be as classy and kind and thoughtful as Ash or Osaka.

Locally I’m not hearing much support for him. Our kids tennis coach put a very angry message on Facebook about the whole thing and he’s usually pretty professional.  Apparently other lower ranked players from India who aren’t eligible for vaccination due to their age were denied entry but somehow Djokovic wasn’t. He has a small outspoken group of followers, Serbians, anti vaxxers and Avi Yemeni types but that’s about it. Australians have a pretty strong cultural thing against one set of rules for the elite versus another for the average that’s kicking in. It will be interesting to see the reception if he actually plays.

Andy Murray’s comment on Nigel Farage was the funniest thing on Twitter so far this year.

Hopefully this brings some attention to the other detainees in the hotel and gets something happening with their situation. That might be one good outcome.

[wintermom]

@Ausmumof3 Thanks so much for all your comments. Very interesting hearing about the other unvacced players not allowed into Australia. I've seen no mention of this in the media, but that's not a big surprise - they mostly want the big headlines to sell their photos and articles. 

I kind of wonder if there will be a timeline of grand slam tournaments that get classified as "Covid years" in the future, kind of like the "open era." I'm recoverying from Covid myself, and even a mild case is having a significant effect on my physical and mental capacity. I'm supposed to play tennis in my competitive league  in a week or two (if they open up the facilities again), and I think I'll be pretty pathetic. 😉 

Edited January 14, 2022 by wintermom

[Ausmumof3]

7 minutes ago, wintermom said:

@Ausmumof3 Thanks so much for all your comments. Very interesting hearing about the other unvacced players not allowed into Australia. I've seen no mention of this in the media, but that's not a big surprise - they mostly want the big headlines to sell their photos and articles. 

I kind of wonder if there will be a timeline of grand slam tournaments that get classified as "Covid years" in the future, kind of like the "open era." I'm recoverying from Covid myself, and even a mild case is having a significant effect on my physical and mental capacity. I'm supposed to play tennis in my competitive league  in a week or two (if they open up the facilities again), and I think I'll be pretty pathetic. 😉 

I’m sorry you’re still not feeling yourself. I hope you start feeling much better soon and have a great game.

[Ausmumof3]

I also remembered one other thing. The initial visa was granted at the end of November and Novak only got covid in December. One wonders what his plan was if he didn’t manage to get covid in that time frame?

[TravelingChris]

28 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Australians have a pretty strong cultural thing against one set of rules for the elite versus another for the average that’s kicking in. It will be interesting to see the reception if he actually plays.

Andy Murray’s comment on Nigel Farage was the funniest thing on Twitter so far this year.

Hopefully this brings some attention to the other detainees in the hotel and gets something happening with their situation. That might be one good outcome.

We are having a lot of push back about that too in the US,  Dinners at The Laundry,  hair appts when cities are shut down, trips overseas or whereever when they re telling others not to travel,  masking for the masses but not Obama's gigantic party,  etc, etc, etc,  And no, I know it isn't just Dems but it is mostly Dems because they are the party that keeps harping on what everyone else should be doing.

II am one who is anti lockdowns and federal mandates that are overreach like the one for every business w over 100 employees that got knocked down by our Supreme Court yesterday, but think that a lot of states are also hurting themselves by being so dictatorial.  

[TravelingChris]

5 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I also remembered one other thing. The initial visa was granted at the end of November and Novak only got covid in December. One wonders what his plan was if he didn’t manage to get covid in that time frame?

That is strange.

[Frances]

1 hour ago, TechWife said:

Look, my son literally faints every time he gets a shot, has a blood draw or IV line inserted - and he’s had a lot of each of them. He’s fainted twice for the COVID-19 vaccine and is scheduled to do it once more. We get his shots in a clinic for that reason - A pharmacy isn’t an option for him. He hates needles. He has gotten vaccinated without complaining - didn’t even consider not doing it. 

After passing out once after getting a flu shot at a grocery store pharmacy and being taken by ambulance to the ER where he spent the evening, my son developed a physiological reaction to shots. Supposedly it’s not uncommon in young adults, according to his doctor at the time. But they came up with a strategy to manage it. All shots in doctor’s offices and having him lay down afterwards. Being well hydrated and well fed beforehand. Using an analgesic patch on his arm and if absolutely necessary, an anti-anxiety pill beforehand. And this was all at age 21 that he took the initiative on his own to work with his doctor to come up with a plan because even before the pandemic, he knew needles were a part of life. Since it’s been several years now and many vaccines, blood draws, and IVs later, he was actually able to get all 3 covid shots at regular vaccine clinics.
 

There’s literally no excuse for a grown ass man like Djokovic with tons of money to not pursue the medical help he needs to either overcome or manage his medical phobias, if he really has them. And if he isn’t willing to do, then there are consequences, like being denied entry to a country to play in a tennis tournament.

[regentrude]

How does an athlete with needle phobia handle the blood draws for doping testing?

[Ting Tang]

I'm in the US and haven't paid super close attention to the story.  Obviously, the people who think the pandemic is a "plandemic" support him.  The little coverage I watched made me think he hadn't dotted his I's and crossed his T's, and I assume now more than ever, one would quadruple check compliance with the rules.  Honestly, with the pandemic, I am a big fan of closed borders, but I guess that's not realistic.  Tennis can't be played over zoom, lol.

[Melissa in Australia]

2 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

So I never went to Serbia when we lived in Europe, but the pool that we belonged to in our neighborhood in Virginia used to hire Serbian life guards because they were appropriately stern with rule breaking.  Both of my dd's actually really appreciated them because they were firm with the kids who were into horseplay.

I am not Australian but was woindering if there is a medical excuse to vaccination because of medical phobia-- apparently he is medically phobic-- kept delaying a necessary surgery until he couldn't play-- doesn't take meds= etc.  I am not even wondering about Australia now but in the US, is anybody getting exemptions because of medical phobia or needle phobia????  As my husband keeps mentioning, the constant shots of people getting vaccines can't really be helping the needle phobics.

The only way to get a medical exemption for an Australian is to be one of the less than 200 people in the whole country that have an anaphylactic reaction to the one ingredient that is present in all the vaccines. Having a life threatening reaction to one vaccine doesn’t give you an exemption to not getting vaccinated. Any person with a medical phobia, or a sever reaction to one vaccine and makes an INFORMED Choice to not have more us lumped right in with the anti Vaxer ,and depending which state you are in means you are not allowed to work for the foreseeable future, as well as not allowed to go to sporting events, restaurants etc.etc.etc.

 

as far as the tennis person. I don’t follow sports at all. Am not a fan. I don’t think it fair that sports persons and movie stars etc have been flouting Aus Covid rules for the last 2 years. HOWEVER. I think what they currently doing is appalling. They should have made it clear right form the outset what the rules are and stuck with them. Not given him a visa in the first place if that was their rule. The government has messed the whole thing up right from the get go and are making it worse and worse. Swing as they gave him a visa , and he has won a court case already then I think they should stick with that and let him play. If they think he is such a threat then why in the earth have they been pussy footing around. 

[wintermom]

17 minutes ago, regentrude said:

How does an athlete with needle phobia handle the blood draws for doping testing?

I thought a lot of doping was tested with urine samples. 

[wintermom]

3 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

as far as the tennis person. I don’t follow sports at all. Am not a fan. I don’t think it fair that sports persons and movie stars etc have been flouting Aus Covid rules for the last 2 years. HOWEVER. I think what they currently doing is appalling. They should have made it clear right form the outset what the rules are and stuck with them. Not given him a visa in the first place if that was their rule. The government has messed the whole thing up right from the get go and are making it worse and worse. Swing as they gave him a visa , and he has won a court case already then I think they should stick with that and let him play. If they think he is such a threat then why in the earth have they been pussy footing around. 

I was confused by this, as well. The gov opened up a huge can of worms and don't seem to have an explanation. 

[Melissa Louise]

9 minutes ago, wintermom said:

I was confused by this, as well. The gov opened up a huge can of worms and don't seem to have an explanation. 

The explanation is they desperately needed a distraction. 

[wintermom]

1 minute ago, Melissa Louise said:

The explanation is they desperately needed a distraction. 

I'm sure this goes over like a lead bomb to all those people who had to get double vacc'ed or lose their job, along with all the other people who've been turned away from entering Australia. 

[TravelingChris]

32 minutes ago, regentrude said:

How does an athlete with needle phobia handle the blood draws for doping testing?

I didn\t say he had needle phobia but there are definitely people who do.  I believe he has medical phobia- considering he seems not to want to do anything medical.  And mind you, I am not saying it is any excuse.  I am just wondering if there have been any successful medical exemptions anywhere for either medical or needle phobias.

I did see that one man in some band was kicked out of it because he was so afraid of getting Guillan-Barre again.  He had gotten that once from a previous vaccination.  In my view, that really is a very legitimate medical concern because that autoimmune reaction can re-occur again.  And since it causes paralysis until you get pumped up full of steroids for a lengthy time, I consider it a bad risk.  

[TravelingChris]

22 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Any person with a medical phobia, or a sever reaction to one vaccine and makes an INFORMED Choice to not have more us lumped right in with the anti Vaxer ,and depending which state you are in means you are not allowed to work for the foreseeable future, as well as not allowed to go to sporting events, restaurants etc.etc.etc.

I think this is nuts- I mean if someone got myocarditis from the first vaccine or a blood clot, they shouldn't have another, IMHO.   And no one seems to care about natural immunity at all.  Nor the fact that even triple vacced people are spreading Omicron so why are we outcasting tjhe unvacced?  And as I said, I am a believer in vaccinations, have had 3 myself, etc.  But I know that my one dd got COVID right before she was about to get her third vaccine as a immunosuppressed person.  Her doctor measured her antibodies which were super high.  He told her not to get the third until at least 3 months later.  When I was getting my first vaccine, one of the questions was whether I ever had COVID and if so, was it 3 months ago or later?

 

[TravelingChris]

38 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

The only way to get a medical exemption for an Australian is to be one of the less than 200 people in the whole country that have an anaphylactic reaction to the one ingredient that is present in all the vaccines. Having a life threatening reaction to one vaccine doesn’t give you an exemption to not getting vaccinated. Any person with a medical phobia, or a sever reaction to one vaccine and makes an INFORMED Choice to not have more us lumped right in with the anti Vaxer ,and depending which state you are in means you are not allowed to work for the foreseeable future, as well as not allowed to go to sporting events, restaurants etc.etc.etc.

 

as far as the tennis person. I don’t follow sports at all. Am not a fan. I don’t think it fair that sports persons and movie stars etc have been flouting Aus Covid rules for the last 2 years. HOWEVER. I think what they currently doing is appalling. They should have made it clear right form the outset what the rules are and stuck with them. Not given him a visa in the first place if that was their rule. The government has messed the whole thing up right from the get go and are making it worse and worse. Swing as they gave him a visa , and he has won a court case already then I think they should stick with that and let him play. If they think he is such a threat then why in the earth have they been pussy footing around. 

It does seem like a real mess.

[Ausmumof3]

The initial visa I think was just an online application then you provide the required proof on arrival. I haven’t watched as much border security as my DH though. The initial approval was granted because of the lies on the online form application.

Djokovic won the court case because border force made a process error not on the merits of the application. 
 

The requirements to enter Australia were clearly spelt out as fully vaxed. Some players possibly with the encouragement of Tennis Australia decided to try to skirt that and try their chances.

As for the current approach to vaccines and borders I do think it’s kind of stupid and the rules need changing. They should have left paid quarantine as an option for unvaxed people all along Instead of blanket refusal of entry. But as the rules stand, there was no confusion or misunderstanding about it - Novak just decided to try and see if he could get around them.

[TravelingChris]

37 minutes ago, wintermom said:

I thought a lot of doping was tested with urine samples. 

It is mostly.  But I don't know if blood packing can be detected in the urine.

[Ausmumof3]

You can see the letter sent to tennis Australia here re the rules

On top of that he lied about travel on his application form - something that if he wasn’t World No 1 tennis player would most likely have seen more serious consequences than what he’s facing.

There are legit issues with vaccination mandates but there’s no way Novak is a good advocate for that.

[Ausmumof3]

It’s possible that this website has been changed since the initial application but this is the current advice

https://www.health.gov.au/health-alerts/covid-19/international-travel/inbound#vaccination

“All inbound passengers must also provide proof of vaccination status before arrival through the Australia Travel Declaration, unless they are a child under the age of 12 years and 3 months. It is important to note that previous infection with COVID-19 is not considered a medical contraindication for COVID-19 vaccination.”

 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I am saddened for the tennis community. It has already been struggling with a decline in players and controversy about the mistreatment of ball persons, coaching, and judges during play. I hope the general public doesn't judge the greater tennis community based on one player's actions and belief system.

--

On a different note - the Adelaide tournament appears to be going well. The women's final is tonight and I'm rooting for Madison Keys. I've met her and she's wonderful.

[bookbard]

I did see a good quote on twitter - Djokovic may be a dodgy liar, but so's the PM. How about we keep the former, and deport the latter?

[Ausmumof3]

5 minutes ago, bookbard said:

I did see a good quote on twitter - Djokovic may be a dodgy liar, but so's the PM. How about we keep the former, and deport the latter?

Let’s deport them both 😂

[chocolate-chip chooky]

6 hours ago, bookbard said:

Yeah it's all political, and such a waste of time when there's more important things the government should be doing. I don't think the average person is concerned about it, compared with everything else going on. 

Yeah, I just don't have spare brain space to worry about it.

My husband would usually follow tennis to some extent and even he just hasn't bothered keeping up with this drama.

It feels like a waste of resources when we have some serious problems going on.

[Ausmumof3]

21 hours ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

I am saddened for the tennis community. It has already been struggling with a decline in players and controversy about the mistreatment of ball persons, coaching, and judges during play. I hope the general public doesn't judge the greater tennis community based on one player's actions and belief system.

--

On a different note - the Adelaide tournament appears to be going well. The women's final is tonight and I'm rooting for Madison Keys. I've met her and she's wonderful.

I didn’t get to watch it yesterday but it looks like she had a win. A local guy who has had a bad run with injuries won the mens as well so a lot of people will be happy about that. 

[DreamerGirl]

Deport the guy.

No patience for his dodgy, lying self.

There are Aussie citizens stranded in various parts of the globe some of which are children. 

Send him home. 

 

[Melissa Louise]

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/send-him-home-poll-reveals-overwhelming-support-for-decision-to-deport-novak-djokovic-20220115-p59oh9.html

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, Melissa Louise said:

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/send-him-home-poll-reveals-overwhelming-support-for-decision-to-deport-novak-djokovic-20220115-p59oh9.html

I do love the fact that of the 30% of Australians who didn't vote to deport, half of them don't care what he does. 🤣Only 15% actually want him to play in the tournament. He sure isn't winning any popularity contests. I hope the majority of Australians get their way. 

[Ausmumof3]

He lost the appeal and he’s out.  I feel slightly sad about it even though I think it was the right thing. Just another thing that got turned bad by the pandemic.

[Melissa Louise]

Good. Maybe the media can get back to news. I'm so sick of hearing about this. 

[wintermom]

I woke up to this happy news! Yay Australia for sticking to your own rules. I really hate it when people slither around their wrong behaviour by whining. 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

15 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I didn’t get to watch it yesterday but it looks like she had a win. A local guy who has had a bad run with injuries won the mens as well so a lot of people will be happy about that. 

She did win! I'm so happy for her. I hope she does well at the AO. She plays Sophia Kenin in the first round.