Daniil Medvedev and Matteo Berrettini reaction to the Novak Djokovic visa debacle

Shahida Jacobs
January 6, 2022

Daniil Medvedev and Matteo Berrettini were both philosophical when asked for their reaction to the news that Novak Djokovic’s Australian visa had been cancelled.

World No 1 Djokovic’s hopes of defending his Australian Open title suffered a near-fatal blow on Thursday when Australian Border Force denied him entry into the country after he “failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia”.

The decision came after the 20-time Grand Slam winner flew to Melbourne on the back of revealing he had been given an exemption to compete at the hard-court Grand Slam.

Djokovic has challenged the border force’s decision to cancel his visa and deport him, and he will remain at a quarantine hotel in Melbourne until the hearing on Monday.

‘There is real anger towards Novak Djokovic’ – Former top 10 player on the Australian reaction to visa storm

World No 2 Medvedev was asked for his thoughts and replied: “For me it’s tough to say. If he had a fair exemption from the rule, well, he should be here; if he didn’t, he shouldn’t be here. To be honest, it sounds easy, but again, it seems very tough in real life, and I don’t know the insides of the story.

“If he has an exemption, well, should be here. If something was wrong with the papers and they didn’t let him in, well, that’s what happens sometimes.”

Wimbledon finalist Berrettini admitted that it was a “really complicated” situation” and he can understand the anger from Melbourne residents about the decision to initially hand Djokovic an exemption.

“For sure I have sympathy for Novak. Nobody wants to be in that situation,” the Italian said.

“I think it is not nice to be – I don’t know how many hours he was there – but at the same time I can understand why Australian people obviously feel [the way they do]. I think Melbourne had the longest lockdown in the world, so I can understand the people. It is a really tough situation to comment on.

“Today I was focusing on my matches and unfortunately we lost. Obviously we followed [the story] it was too big not to follow it. It’s really complicated.

“What I can tell you is that I am vaccinated, I am here.”

Daniil Medvedev Matteo Berrettini Novak Djokovic