Novak Djokovic’s bid to defend his Australian Open crown and go past Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and get his 21st Grand Slam in Melbourne could be in trouble despite an Australian federal court quashing the government’s decision to cancel his visa.

Federal Circuit and Family Court judge Anthony Kelly on Monday heard Djokovic’s case and ordered the Serb be released from immigration detention where he was held up for the last 4 days after the Australian Border Force cancelled his visa upon arrival in Melbourne earlier this month, citing lack of evidence for a medical exemption to Covid-19 vaccine.

Judge Kelly also ordered Djokovic’s passport and other travel documents returned to him, allowing him to defend his crown and launch a bid for the 10th Australian Open title when the season’s first Grand Slam tournament gets underway from January 17.

Djokovic took the legal route to challenge Australia’s visa cancellation, arguing he did not need proof of vaccination because he had evidence that he had been infected with the coronavirus last month. Court documents say the World No. 1 tennis player is unvaccinated against Covid-19.

CAN DJOKOVIC’S VISA BE CANCELLED AGAIN?

However, the Australian government’s lawyers, however, told the court that the country’s immigration minister was reserving the right to exercise a separate power to cancel the tennis star’s visa again.

According to Australian journalist Paul Karp, the immigration minister has the right under section 133C(3) of the Migration Act to cancel Djokovic’s visa again. If it happens, Djokovic would face deportation again and miss the Australian Open even if he appeals against such cancellation as the tournament organizers had said they would not wait beyond January 11 to confirm the Serb’s availability to feature in the Grand Slam tournament.

Djokovic could also be barred from entering Australia for 3 years if his visa is canceled again.

All the news outlets alerting that Djokovic will play the 2022 Australian Open seem to have missed the govt’s lawyer revealing THEY COULD STILL CANCEL HIS VISA AND HE COULD BE BOOTED FOR 3 YEARS

— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) January 10, 2022

Under the said section of the immigration act, the minister, Alex Hawke should be satisfied that a ground exists to cancel the visa — in this case the purported threat to public health because he is unvaccinated and the visa-holder “does not satisfy the minister that the ground does not exist” and that it would be in the public interest to cancel the visa.

Notably, the lawyers for Home Affairs Minister Karen Andres had said in their submission that if the judge ruled in Djokovic’s favor, officials might cancel his visa a second time.

They said the vaccination requirement could only be deferred for arriving travellers who have had a COVID-19 infection if their illness was acute. “There is no suggestion that the applicant had ‘acute major medical illness’ in December” when he tested positive, the written submission said.

HIGH PROFILE ‘ANTI-VAXXER’

Notably, on Sunday, Australian immigration expert Christopher Levingston had highlighted that Djokovic may not even win the court battle and that the Serb appeared to have become a standard-bearer for anti-vaccine groups, including some people who’ve gathered outside for support outside his immigration hotel.

“If Mr Djokovic has a high profile as an ‘anti-vaxxer’, then the government might say that that was inconsistent with the Australian government’s policy of encouraging Australians to be vaccinated,” Levingston had told Sky News.

Djokovic garnered support from the tennis fraternity as quite a few players slammed the Australian government’s handling of the issue. Former World No. 1 Andy Murray said he was concerned for the well-being of Djokovic.

Djokovic is not the only tennis player caught up in the Australian visa issue. The Australian government cancelled the visa of Czech player Renata Voráová and an unnamed official. Voracova decided to leave Australia on Sunday after she was sent to the same immigration detention facility where Djokovic was put up.