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The outbursts occurred during the Mexican Open in Acapulco, where Zverev and Marcelo Melo were playing against Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliövaara in a doubles match.

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With the match level at one set all, it went to a deciding tie-break. Zverev was furious with a contentious line call and completely lost his temper, launching an expletive-laden tirade at the umpire.

He screamed at the umpire: “Look where the ball bounced … 8-6 in the tiebreak … for f***s sake … it’s f***ing your line … f***ing idiot.”

The crowd audibly gasped at that final insult directed at the umpire, who issued Zverev with a code violation.

Glasspool and Heliövaara won the super tie-break to seal the match 6-2 4-6 10-6. Zverev quickly shook their hands at the net before approaching the umpire’s chair.

In a display of blatant intimidation, the German firmly whacked the umpire’s chair several times, only just missing his feet and legs as the umpire visibly flinched to escape harm’s way.

Zverev whacked the side of the chair again as the umpire was climbing down from it.

The ATP, tennis’ governing body, responded quickly, announcing the 24-year-old was kicked out of the tournament effective immediately.

“Due to unsportsmanlike conduct at the conclusion of his doubles match on Tuesday night, Alexander Zverev has been withdrawn from the tournament in Acapulco,” the ATP said in a statement.

Tennis fans were astonished by Zverev’s violence and immediately called for him to be suspended and face a heavy punishment for the violent act.

Tennis journalist Tumaini Carayol tweeted: “Alexander Zverev ended his doubles loss against Glasspool/Heliovaara by attacking the umpire’s chair while arguing with and looking at him after each strike.

“Looks like a blatant act of intimidation and there should be serious repercussions for this behaviour.”

BBC commentator David Law added: “This is absolutely appalling from Alexander Zverev.”

Commentator Jose Morgado said: “This is absolutely unacceptable. Something should be done here …”

The Twitter account of the Tennis Podcast posted: “This, from Alexander Zverev in Acapulco, should have serious repercussions.”

Zverev is all but certain to receive a lengthy ban for the attack on the umpire. Under ATP rules, penalties for major offences include fines of up to $25,000 or the amount of prize money won at the tournament, and/or suspension from ATP events for a maximum of one year.

Tennis pundits pointed out Australian Nick Kyrgios was banned from the tour for 16 weeks and fined $113,000 (USD) for verbally abusing an umpire in 2019.

Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have turned the tennis world on its head to the point where Saturday night’s doubles showdown with Max Purcell and Matt Ebden – marking the first all-Australian men’s grand slam doubles final in 42 years – has turned into one of the most anticipated matches of the week.

KYRGIOS & KOKKINAKIS V EBDEN & PURCELL STARTS AFTER THE WOMEN’S FINAL | FOLLOW BARTY V COLLINS LIVE

And it could be a lucrative one, too.

Kyrgios played precious few tournaments in 2021, entering the Australian Open on the back of a five-match losing streak, and finished the year with a 7-8 singles record – with $430,102 finding its way into his bank account.

While that’s nothing to sniff at, he’s set to blow that out of the water in one special fortnight with his best mate.

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Should they keep the party going with victory over fellow Australians Max Purcell and Matt Ebden on Saturday, they’ll split the $675,000 in prizemoney – giving each player $337,500.

Throw in the $154,000 Kyrgios earned for his first-round win over Liam Broady, and he will bank a healthy $491,500 for two weeks’ work at Melbourne Park – more than the $340,000 he earned for reaching the 2015 Australian Open quarter-finals.

None of this is likely to be important to Kyrgios, who prioritises entertainment over winning – but not to the extent that he’ll make a fool of himself.

“I think I played pretty good tennis in the past. I’ve beaten pretty much every player that’s picked up a racquet,” Kyrgios said.

“I’ve obviously had to play a certain level of tennis. It’s not like I’m going out there putting on a clown suit and creating a circus.

“I have also played, won titles, won big titles, I have played the traditional way.”

As for who deserves favouritism, it’s a prickly question for both camps.

The unseeded pairing of Ebden and Purcell bristled at questions likening this final to the Australia v Australia A cricket matches in the 1990s – where the star-studded world-beaters were pitched against a side of young guns, but one that was still considered the second-tier team.

“Who is Australia and who is Australia A? Because we’re the underdogs,” said Purcell.

Ebden stepped in to ramp up even more pressure on their high-profile opponents – who don’t have the doubles rankings to show for their heavy-metal performances this week.

“They have higher singles rankings right now. We have higher doubles rankings. They had big crowd support. We did also yesterday,” Ebden said.

“The pressure is on them for sure. They’ve had pressure on them their whole lives.”

Originally published as Australian Open men’s doubles final: Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis v Matt Ebden and Max Purcell

The 25-year-old has been near untouchable over the first 10 days of this year’s tournament, and can on Thursday reach her first Australian Open final – where she’d become the first Australian woman since Wendy Turnbull in 1980 to do so.

ASH BARTY’S SEMI-FINAL STARTS AT 7:30PM AEDT

But Barty’s ruthless efficiency through five wins – spending just five hours and four minutes on court – has her in position to match the extraordinary feats of German ace Steffi Graf’s domination of the 1989 event.

Barty’s buzzwords of the week have revolved around “problem solving” and making opponents feel “uncomfortable”, traits she’s delivered in spades.

It took Barty all of three points to figure out the key to dismantling quarter-final victim Jessica Pegula – fighting from 40-0 down in the opening game to break the shell-shocked American and kickstart her most ruthless performance of the tournament.

Her stunning 6-2 6-0 win means Barty has tallied 17 games conceded across five matches at this year’s Australian Open – putting her in the ballpark to better Graf’s extraordinary 1989 triumph, where she dropped just 24 games.

If the pressure is on Barty, it isn’t showing with the Queenslander as calm as you like on and off the court.

“She’s number one, top seed, home slam and chopping everyone up. She should be that favourite,” former Hopman Cup teammate Matt Ebden told News Corp.

“She’s played amazing the first week and hopefully she can keep that up. There’s still a few more matches to go and that’s where she’s gonna need to play her best tennis again.

“But all signs are she’s playing amazing so far, so if she can carry that through I wouldn’t be surprised if she wins.”

Having wiped Americans out in the past two rounds, Barty has a chance to go for a hat-trick when she faces the unseeded Madison Keys in Thursday’s semi-final.

Keys presents a different challenge to those who’ve tried and failed against Barty so far, but the Australian is ready to put her problem-solving to the test.

“Maddie is an exceptional athlete, she has a great serve, great first strike off the return and off her first ball after her serve,” Barty said.

“A lot of the time it’s about trying to put her in an uncomfortable position, try and get her off-balance, because if she controls the centre of the court the match is on her racquet.

“I need to be able to find a balance, problem solve my way through it, try and work out a way to nullify her strengths and bring it back to my patterns if I can.”

ASH BARTY’S SEMI-FINAL STARTS AT 7:30PM AEDT

Originally published as Ash Barty Australian Open 2022 start time: Follow all the action from her semi-final clash

Cornet was an emootional wreck after she broke through to her first career grand slam quarter-final — ending a run of 62 slams without cracking the last-eight, the longest run in the history of women’s professional tennis.

Cornet crashed to her knees and bowed her head in her hands after winning her fourth round match with Simona Halep. She was still clutching her face when she sat down on her chair to take in her special moment.

She was left in tears all over again when she walked out onto the centre of Rod Laver Arena to speak with Dokic.

After hugging Dokic as she stepped up to the microphone, the crowd could her the 32-year-old say: “I’m sorry I’m so emotional”.

Cornet was the first of the pair to choke up with emotion when Dokic referenced a sliding doors moment from the 2009 Australian Open where the pair were one point away from playing each other in the quarter-finals. Cornet had match point against Dinara Safina at the time, but lost the match — and a chance to play Dokic in the quarter-finals.

Dokic said: “I’ve got goosebumps, but tell me, how do you feel right now?”

Cornet responded: “Oh my god, yeah. I wanted to play against you so bad. I was so disappointed. I loved your game and I was so excited about playing a quarter-final against you and I couldn’t and it was really painful. Now 13 years later, you’re here, I’m still here.”

When Dokic cut off the interview after five minutes by encouraging the crowd to give Cornet a round of applause, Cornet put her finger up to have one final say.

Her gesture to Dokic was absolute class.

“Wait, wait. So I just want to thank my box first, but also I want to tell you something, how you moved on in your life, I think we can all congratulate you,” she said.

“You were an amazing player and now an amazing commentator.”

The reference to Dokic’s personal battles and ongoing mental health struggles following on from the trauma of her childhood, as exposed in distressing detail in her autobiography, left the Australian with a lump in her throat.

“You just made me cry. I can’t believe I’m crying. Thank you. Alize Cornet.”

In 2020 Dokic revealed how she had lost 53kg in 18 months and at last year’s Australian Open, took aim at trolls who were making nasty comments about her appearance.

Dokic has repeatedly spoken out bravely about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her dad Damir during her career. The former World No. 4 revealed she suffered physical abuse as a child and teenager almost every time her father was displeased with her performance on the tennis court.

In her 2017 biography Unbreakable, written with journalist Jessica Halloran, Dokic said the beatings were part of a systematic pattern of abuse from the man previously branded the “tennis dad from hell”.

Her ongoing recovery from the trauma is just one of many reasons she remains one of the most popular figures in Australian tennis.

The moment she shared with Cornet left tennis commentators feeling the love.

Last week’s decision to cancel Djokovic’s visa was overturned in the Federal Circuit Court on Monday, but Federal Immigration Minister Alex Hawke still had the final say on whether the world No. 1 is allowed to stay in the country.

Hawke was tasked with choosing whether the 34-year-old was a risk to the health and safety of the Australia community, but “lengthy further submissions” from Djokovic’s legal team delayed a decision.

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And Hawke finally came to a decision on Friday afternoon, invoking his discretionary power and immediately seeking to deport the tennis star.

“Today I exercised my power under section 133C (3) of the Migration Actto cancel the visa held by Mr Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so,” Hawke said in a statement.

“This decision followed orders by the Federal Circuit and Family Court on 10 January 2022, quashing a prior cancellation decision on procedural fairness grounds.

“In making this decision, I carefully considered information provided to me by the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Border Force and Mr Djokovic.

“The Morrison Government is firmly committed to protecting Australia’s borders, particularly in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. I thank the officers of the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Border Force who work every day to serve Australia’s interests in increasingly challenging operational environments.”

Djokovic’s lawyers are expected to seek an immediate injunction which would allow him to stay and play his first round of the Australian Open pending an expedited trial next week.

However, if he doesn’t challenge the decision in the courts, he will be immediately deported from the country.

More to come …

Djokovic’s 11-year saving grace

Novak Djokovic’s possession of a diplomatic passport, which he obtained for being part of the Davis Cup championship team in 2011, could potentially serve as his saving grace amid the highly-publicised visa saga.

Speaking to the Herald Sun, first counsellor at the Serbian embassy Ivana Isidorovic revealed that Djokovic’s diplomatic passport should ensure “adequate treatment” of the 20-time grand slam champion.

“Djokovic, as our most recognisable representative in the world, is the holder of a diplomatic passport, which should, in diplomatic theory and consular practice, guarantee him adequate treatment when crossing borders,” she said in a statement.

However, migration experts believe Djokovic’s diplomatic passport shouldn’t lead to special treatment in his visa fight.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website states: “Diplomatic and Official Passports do not confer on the holder any special rights or privileges”.

‘Stop this debacle’: Senator fires up

Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie has called on Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to make a decision over the Novak Djokovic visa saga, calling the situation an “absolute shambles”.

“Maybe it’s about time to stop this debacle, finish it once and for all,” Lambie said on Channel 9’s Today.

“Make up your mind, Alex Hawke, and where are you? Missing in action? Make a decision.

“If you can’t make a decision on Novak Djokovic, goodness me, how are you guys running the country? This is an absolute shambles. Let alone what it’s making us look like in the face of the rest of the world. It’s absolutely a shocker.”

Shane Warne weighs in

Shane Warne has weighed into the scandal, taking to Twitter on Friday to say Australia is “entitled” to boot Djokovic out if he has misrepresented himself on border entry forms and mixed in public while Covid-positive.

“Novak is a great tennis player & one of the all time greats. No doubt. But he’s lied on entry forms, been out in public when he knew he had Covid & is now facing legal cases,” Warne tweeted. “He’s entitled to not be jabbed but Oz is entitled to throw him out! Agree?”

‘Clearly lied’: Djoker pile-on intensifies

US journalist Jemele Hill joined the Djokovic pile-on during a live cross with CNN on Friday (AEDT).

“If you are someone who lives in Australia, a country which has been under some of the stricter rules that we’ve seen worldwide, and you’ve had to be vaccinated, you’ve had to social distance, you’ve had to adhere to all these different regulations,” Hill said.

“And here comes this guy who clearly lied on his application about when he travelled to another country.

“There are still lots of questions about when he actually contracted Covid last month. He’s clearly trying to skirt the rules.”

Players have also raised concerns. Australian Open fifth seed Andrey Rublev told Russian news agency TASS: “The situation with Novak is very confusing. We don’t know all the details.

“Personal agreements do not give an athlete the right to cross the border, the law of the country is the law.

“None of us would want to get into such a situation. I can only shrug my shoulders and regret that instead of tennis, everyone is discussing these things.”

Ex-Aussie star Sam Groth said the situation was causing drama in the locker room.

“It’s starting to affect the players, the way they prepare, yesterday they were waiting around an extra hour to find out who they play,” Groth told Today.

“A lot of the players made the decision to get vaccinated, whether they wanted to or not, to come down to play the Australian Open.

“I think a lot of the players that made the decision just to be able to come down to Melbourne Park are now feeling like it’s one rule for Novak and one rule for everybody else.”

‘A tragedy’: Djokovic affair embarrasses Melbourne

The Committee for Melbourne, an organisation that represents and advocates for the city’s arts and business sectors, has hit out over the Djokovic affair and its impact on the Victorian capital.

The Committee called the situation “embarrassing” and a “debacle” as chief executive Martine Letts pointed the finger at all parties involved for their mishandling of his visa mess. Speaking to The Age, Ms Letts said the saga reflected poorly on Melbourne.

“The Djokovic visa and vaccination saga has reflected poorly on all those involved, which is a tragedy considering the excellence of our infrastructure and tournament planning,” Ms Letts said.

“No matter who is right or wrong, (the saga) has shown a vindictive and intolerant face of Australia which we can ill afford as we seek to open up again to the world.

“As Australia’s global events and sporting capital, we really want to be seen as competent and welcoming as we emerge from being one of the world’s most locked-down jurisdictions in 2020 and 2021.

“We cannot let the Australian Open debacle set the tone for the rest of this and future years and leave the door wide open for others to step in and take our (major events) crown, which they will take every opportunity to do.”

Cold water poured on Novak rumour

Spanish authorities have rejected a rumour they are investigating Djokovic over his recent travel into the country.

Reports emerged on Thursday the 20-time major winner was being investigated after he recently travelled from Serbia to Spain, where he practised ahead of the Australian Open.

Tennis reporter Gaspar Ribeiro Lanca tweeted on Thursday: “Breaking news: COPE reports that the Spanish Government is now investigating whether unvaccinated Novak Djokovic entered the country illegally in late December. Since September 20, citizens from Serbia need a vaccine certificate OR a special exemption to enter Spanish territory but so far the authorities say they did not receive any request from Djokovic.”

However, cold water has been poured on suggestions Djokovic is under the microscope in Spain. “The news is false. Neither the government has ordered it nor is there any police investigation open on the athlete,” a spokesperson for Spain’s interior ministry told Politico.

Blame game erupts as Djoker’s plan revealed

Djokovic will reportedly challenge any decision to deport him in court, should Minster Hawke decide to boot the world No. 1 out.

The Age reports a member of Djokovic’s camp said legal action will immediately be launched if he is told to leave the country, even after having his visa cancellation overturned in court on Monday.

According to the report, Team Djokovic is hopeful any legal challenge would be resolved by Sunday, allowing the Serbian to continue in the Australian Open, which starts on Monday, if he is successful.

Meanwhile, the Herald Sun reports government sources are blaming Djokovic and his camp for using delaying tactics to draw the saga out.

Visa saga rolls on

Djokovic, who is unvaccinated, received a medical exemption to compete in the year’s first grand slam but when he touched down in Melbourne last week, was told by the Australian Border Force he had insufficient evidence to prove his exemption was justified.

The nine-time Australian Open champion was kept in a Melbourne hotel until the end of Monday’s hearing, when he was released from detention.

Djokovic’s exemption was based on his and Tennis Australia’s belief that having contracted Covid-19 in the past six months was a valid reason to not be vaccinated.

Djokovic’s family thanked fans for their support and defended his right to be in Australia. Speaking to Sunrise earlier this week, his mum Dijana said: “Novak is 34-35, even me as a mother I don’t have any choice to make pressure on him.

“He has his own philosophy of his life. If he thinks like that, I can just say OK.

“I know that Novak is the most healthiest guy in the world, like a sportsman. He takes care of his life and his body so much that nobody can even imagine how. He’s so dedicated to this sport and dedicated to what he’s doing. He’s playing tennis and he wants to stay on the court and I know he is doing everything to take care of his body to stay healthy.

“I don’t know what is the problem if he doesn’t want to get vaccinated. That’s his choice and each person in this world has the opportunity to make a choice. This is like human rights. You cannot pursue him or pressure him to do this.”

The 211cm-tall Opelka stood over Thompson in their second round match, taking control from the outset and going on to win 6-3, 6-2.

Just minutes into the match, Thompson was visibly frazzled by the American world No.25’s powerful serve – well in excess of 200km/h – and his ability to move swiftly around the court despite his imposing size.

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Thompson dominated his first round match against Opelka’s countryman Marcos Giron but struggled to find his rhythm as the first set progressed on Wednesday.

A wayward return handed Opelka the break early in the second set, and the Aussie couldn’t mask his frustration any longer.

He tossed his racquet away but went back for it, leaving it a crumpled mess on the court after slamming it aground twice more.

Racquet debris lay scattered at the edges of the court.

“You can understand the frustration. His opponent has hardly put a foot wrong,” retired doubles specialist Robbie Koenig said in commentary for Stan Sport.

“It’s been such intelligent tennis from Opelka.”

“I’m surprised it isn’t a code violation. That thing (the racquet) has seen better days,” commentator Colin Fleming said.

Commentators said they understood Thompson’s pain.

“I’m not advocating smashing racquets by any means but sometimes when you’re as frustrated as these guys are in the heat of battle, you just need to get that release,” Koenig said.

“Get it out of your system, otherwise it lingers.

“Hopefully getting his frustrations out on the racquet would’ve done that for Jordan.”

After his episode with the racquet, Thompson managed to take two games away from Opelka, but the American was in a mood and could not be stopped despite Thompson’s best efforts.

Opelka will meet fellow American Brandon Nakashima in the quarter-finals.

“I played well,” Opelka said after defeating Thompson.

“I’ve been working a lot on my ground game and I think a lot of it showed out here today.”

Aussie star Ajla Tomljanovic dismissed concerns over two heavily taped thighs a week out from the Australian Open following an opening round win at the Sydney Classic.

Playing in her 150th main draw, the 28-year-old said she was having a “tough time” with her adductors and hips but they didn’t hamper her in the 6-2, 6-3 win over Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

Coming off a career-best 2021, Tomljanovic is targeting a move into the world top 30 as an early-season goal in 2022 but isn’t putting any immediate expectations on herself going into the opening grand slam of the season next week.

“As a team, we don’t really set goals where, you know, OK, we’ve got to hit this number or this round in a slam. But the objective always is to improve. For me personally I do set my goals of my own,” she said after her win, which required a comeback from 3-1 down in the second set.

“It would be to get into the top 30, mostly just because I believe that I can do it. But it will take me to do something that I haven’t done in ever, which is play better consistently, win more matches at the bigger stages every week,”

“And it’s definitely going to be a task for me just because it hasn’t been done before, but it definitely isn’t something that I feel like is too far out of reach.”

Tomljanovic said the extreme tape on both her thighs was more precautionary than an indication of an issue which could trouble her when she gets to Melbourne Park.

“I just have a tough time sometimes with my adductors and hips, and just trusting it is not coming easy to me, so I just felt like tape was the right way to go,” she said.

“It was so humid out there, so I spoke to the physios before the match that, you know, if I could get a retape without getting the medical, which we did, and it was a little bit too tight in the second. But, you know, the tape does get a little bit loose.

“Once I finished, I just really wanted to get it off just, yeah, to let my legs breathe a little bit.”

At number 45 in the world, Tomljanovic is the second-highest ranked Australian female behind world No.1 Ash Barty.

But it’s wins, particularly at bigger tournaments, not ranking points that are driving her.

“Being better than my career high isn’t really going to make me, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, yes’. It’s not going to feel like that because, in a way, I felt like I deserved it with the year I had last year,” she said.

“So not reaching it doesn’t get me down or anything. But probably getting into that top 30 would be something is where I’d be, like, OK, this is what makes the difference for me.”

Tomljanovic will play Spain’s Paula Badosa in the second round in Sydney.

But while Tomljanovic progressed, fellow Aussie Chris O’Connell was on the end of a close defeat, losing a third-set tie-break to Argentina’s Sebastian Baez.

The world No. 2’s Aussie summer from hell continued on Tuesday when she lost to lowly-ranked Rebecca Peterson of Sweden 5-7 6-1 7-5 in her opening match of the Adelaide International 2.

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Sabalenka is yet to win a match this year after she also lost last week in her season opener in Adelaide to Slovenia’s world No. 100 Kaja Juvan.

The 23-year-old had been tipped for a big 2022 but a major flaw in her game has emerged in her first two matches of the year — she has completely lost confidence in her serve and is falling apart in matches as a result.

Against Peterson, Sabalenka couldn’t get a serve in to save herself, recording 21 double faults and more than 50 unforced errors.

Several of her serves either sailed way past the service box or barely made it the distance and hit the net.

At one stage the chair umpire even intervened, asking her if she was carrying an injury, to which Sabalenka responded: “Nothing is wrong. It’s a technical problem.”

Sabalenka was clearly angry with herself and threw her racquet onto the ground in frustration.

The Belarusian eventually resorted to hitting underarm serves just to get the ball in play, but they were not of the Nick Kyrgios trick shot variety and far too predictable.

Tennis fans were in disbelief at the capitulation of Sabalenka’s serve, which has traditionally been a strong point of her power-hitting style.

Tennis journalist Tumaini Carayol tweeted: “Alarming to see Aryna Sabalenka, the world number 2, resorting to underarm serves because she simply cannot serve properly right now.

“Two losses to start the season with 18 double faults (in two sets) and now 21 double faults against Rebecca Peterson today.”

Sports reporter Mark Gottlieb called Sabalenka’s loss of confidence in her serve “staggering”.

“One of the world’s best tennis players (Sabalenka is ranked TWO!!! in the world) has completely lost the ability to serve a week out from the first major of the year,” he said.

Tennis commentator Jose Morgado said: “Sabalenka can’t serve. What the hell is happening?”.

Tennid producer David Kane added: “I saw such big things for Sabalenka this season.

“She’d gotten so good at shaking off disappointments and really looked a millimetre away from winning a Slam last year.

“Hopefully she can solve these yips, and fast.”

After making the semi-finals of Wimbledon and the US Open in 2021, many pundits believed Sabalenka would be a major contender at grand slams this year.

American tennis legend Pam Shriver had even predicted she could take the world No. 1 ranking off Barty by the end of the season.

However, Sabalenka will now go in to the Australian Open seriously underdone.

In contrast, Barty is in red hot form having won both the singles and doubles titles in Adelaide and will go in as the favourite to win her home grand slam.

Kyrgios withdrew from the Melbourne Summer Set last week due to illness and was given a wildcard entry into the Sydney Tennis Classic, which began on Monday at Sydney’s Olympic Park precinct.

The former World No. 13 had been due to face the tournament’s seventh seed, Italian Fabio Fognini, at Ken Rosewall Arena in the evening.

However, on Monday afternoon, representatives at Tennis Australia told News Corp that the Aussie World No. 114 had withdrawn at the last minute.

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Speaking at a Sydney Tennis Classic Event only two days prior, Kyrgios had said he was looking forward to the summer ahead.

“I just want to go out there and have fun,” he said.

“I want to put on a good performance. It’s Australian summer.

“People are expecting me to put on a good show and I think I’m capable of doing that still.”

The news was devastating for Sydney tennis fans, who had only just come to grips with the fact that women’s World No. 1 Ash Barty had pulled out of the tournament.

Barty won the Adelaide International last week and announced on Monday that she would travel directly to Melbourne in preparation for the Australian Open instead of taking part in the Sydney Tennis Classic.

More to come.

But plenty of people are unimpressed with how the whole affair has been handled.

Tennis Australia (TA), the Victorian government and Federal government are all trying to shirk responsibility for the bumbling sequence of events that saw the world’s best male tennis player turned away at the gates when he thought he had every right to be here.

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TA confirmed Djokovic had received a medical exemption to play in this month’s Australian Open before Border Force stepped in. The ABF and Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Djokovic didn’t provide sufficient evidence as to why he was eligible for a medical exemption, so wasn’t allowed in.

Now he’s stranded in an infamous Melbourne hotel, without his private chef and awaiting Monday’s legal challenge against the decision to cancel his visa.

That neither federal and state governments, medical panels nor TA were on the same page when it came to what Djokovic required to gain entry into Australia has left the country open to fierce criticism.

Things get messy as authorities change their mind

It emerged on Friday night TA didn’t inform players that contracting Covid-19 within the last six months was not a valid reason to gain an exemption — despite earlier receiving correspondence from Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt in November explaining as much.

Leaked letters have intensified the blame game and things descended even further into chaos when unvaccinated Czech star Renata Voracova had her visa cancelled — despite being let into the country earlier because her exemption was deemed permissible.

She was using the same reasoning to avoid vaccination as Djokovic — that she had been infected with the virus in the past six months. Initially she was given the green light and had even played an Australian Open warm-up event in Melbourne.

But as questions were asked about whether Djokovic was being treated differently and made a scapegoat because of his status, Australian authorities changed their mind and decided to send Voracova back home too.

‘This is too much’: World reacts to Australia’s botched job

Friday night’s developments only sparked more cynicism about how the Djokovic saga has been handled as all parties came in for heavy fire from commentators here and abroad.

Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley is in the firing line as tennis fans questioned whether he’d be able to keep his job.

Former Australian Open director Paul McNamee tweeted: “So now Czech player Renata Voracova has been rounded up and detained like Novak. This is too much.”

Serbian tennis journalist Sasa Ozmo said: “When we all just take a step back, can you believe what is actually happening, the things we are talking about? The world is upside down really.”

American tennis commentator Brett Haber wrote: “Even if Tennis Australia gave players incorrect advice about prior Covid infections being sufficient to trigger a medical exemption (which now appears to be the case, and which sucks), why didn’t the Aussie government decline @DjokerNole’s visa when he originally applied for it?”

Nine reporter Tom Steinfort said “heads must roll at Tennis Australia”.

“This is just embarrassing – now we’re hunting down people already in the country just to save face,” he tweeted.

Sports producer Nancy Gillen wrote: “This is becoming such a mess. There seems to have been a complete disconnect between tournament organisers and the Government with regards to vaccination exemptions, and this is the result. Personally can’t see Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley surviving this.”

Veteran tennis reporter Jon Wertheim said the saga just “keeps getting weirder”.

“I think it was a combination of people playing fast and loose with regulations; I think part of it is … duplicity, but part of it seems to be incompetence,” he said in a piece published by Sports Illustrated.

“I mean, it seems like there’s a disconnect between even if he had this sort of wink-wink from Tennis Australia, how he was allowed to board the plane is a mystery.”

Actor Tristan Gemmill said on Twitter: “What a mess the Djokovic situation is. He is obviously culpable to an extent but should never have been allowed to travel in the first place: the disconnect between the Vic govt/Tennis Australia and the Federal Border authorities is also to blame. Shambles!”

Tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg said the onus was on Djokovic to be vaccinated but questioned why TA was bending over backwards for him.

“You know what would have solved all this? If the #AusOpen just didn’t allow for exemptions from its mandatory vaccination policy. That was always an option,” he tweeted.

“TA tried to paint shades of grey into their rules, and the resulting splatter made the whole thing look a complete mess.”

Former tennis umpire Richard Ings called the situation a “farce”, adding: “Tennis Australia and it’s biosecurity people seem to have some explaining to do.”

Chief sports writer at the UK Telegraph, Oliver Brown, tweeted: “51,356 positive cases in state of Victoria today. And Djokovic, who tested negative to board his flight, is somehow an unconscionable risk to the community?

“The mood is turning. When even Nick Kyrgios is expressing compassion for Djokovic’s circumstances, it is a fair sign Australia has got this horribly wrong.”

An editorial in the same British paper also hit out. “What is the point of hosting a major sporting event if you are not prepared to let one of the leading figures in that sport compete,” it read.

“The country is lumbered with restrictions that no longer make any rational sense, but which have nonetheless become totems of a failed zero Covid strategy that are difficult politically to unwind.”

Ajla Tomljanovic – Australia’s second-ranked women’s player, behind world No.1 Ash Barty – had one such moment in the second round at Wimbledon last year.

The 28-year-old, who starts her road to the Australian Open at this week’s Adelaide International, led France’s Alize Cornet 5-2 in the final set but dropped serve as she tried to close out the match.

Tomljanovic had given up those kinds of leads before at grand slams and it may have felt like groundhog day.

It happened at the Australian Open only months earlier, when dual grand slam champion Simona Halep chased her down after trailing 4-2 in the third set.

This time was different. She resolved that she owed it to herself to do her best to change her fate, after often beating herself in those situations previously.

At that stage, Tomljanovic hadn’t made it past round two at a grand slam since making the last 16 in 2014, but she went on to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

It took eventual winner Barty to stop her. There were lessons in that clash, too, but going that deep in a grand slam again was a major milestone.

“There was a little bit of a realisation that I felt a lot of heartbreaks after so many of these matches,” Tomljanovic told News Corp.

“Against Simona, I thought that, not that the world was ending, but it felt like, ‘What am I doing? I’m putting so much work in, just to feel like this’.

“I realised that tennis doesn’t owe me wins … it doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen – but I do believe that it could. So I took that pressure off myself.

“The sport is already hard enough that I wanted to give myself a break and be my friend more than anything.

“I just felt like, ‘I know what it’s like to lose this’ but the panic was maybe just a little bit smaller than before.”

Tomljanovic subsequently reached the third round at the US Open and went one round further at the ‘fifth major’ Indian Wells, including an upset victory over Garbine Muguruza.

Throw in representing Australia at the Olympics and Billie Jean King Cup, and this was her best season.

Tomljanovic begins the new tennis year ranked No.45, only six spots shy of her career high. But ranking is secondary, she says, to the more important strides she made mentally.

Now back in Australia – after spending the off-season in Miami with her family and boyfriend, Italian top-10 star Matteo Berrettini – she hopes to take more steps towards a top-30 ranking.

That goal begins with a first-round match-up against Brit Heather Watson in Adelaide on Monday morning.

“All I really want to do is, obviously result-wise, go as far as I can,” Tomljanovic said.

“ But it’s more about playing how I play in practice and if I do that, I’ll be pretty happy with myself.”