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      The Mental Health of Tennis Players Is No Longer in the Shadows

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      The sport is very stressful, and many professionals had to often manage their anxiety alone. Now the tours provide help.Robin Soderling was at the peak of his prowess when the walls started crumbling.In 2009, when Soderling was just 24, he stunned the four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal en route to the final of the French Open.Soderling reached the final again in 2010, losing to Nadal. By the end of the season, Soderling was ranked No. 4 in the world.Eight months later, he played his final match on the ATP Tour.“I always felt like I was under pressure,” Soderling, now 37, said on a video call from his home near Stockholm. “The better I became, the worse it got. Basically, every match I played I was the favorite. When I won, it was more of a relief than happy. When I lost, it was a disaster. Losing a tennis match made me feel like a terrible person.”When anxiety and panic attacks forced Robin Soderling of Sweden out of competition a decade ago, such issues weren’t talked about, he said. “There was such a big stigma.”Oscar Del Pozo/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesExpectations were high as soon as he had success as a junior. But by the time he was 26, Soderling was done, having experienced anxiety and panic attacks as well as debilitating mononucleosis.“My entire immune system was bad because of the mental stress I put on myself,” he said. “Even on my rest days I was never switched off. Then my body just tipped over. I went from being able to play a five-set match on clay to not being able to walk up the stairs. But I couldn’t really talk to many people about it because there was such a big stigma.”Sports psychologists are now a regular presence on the Women’s Tennis Association and ATP Tours. And almost no one is afraid to talk about it. At last year’s WTA Finals, most of the eight top singles players spoke freely about receiving counseling for mental health issues.“I’ve been working with a psychologist for years,” said Maria Sakkari, a semifinalist at the French and United States Opens in 2021. “I invested a lot in that. It’s probably the best gift I’ve ever done for myself.”Because tennis is an individual sport, most players are on their own with limited support networks. They travel for 11 months of the year and almost everyone regularly loses.“Tennis is one of the toughest sports because there are constant changes that sports with a consistent schedule don’t have,” said Danielle Collins, a top 30 player. “We never know what time we’re going to play. We travel from city to city each week on different continents, with different cultures, even different foods. We even play with different tennis balls. And we lose every week unless you win the tournament. That’s something that you have to adjust to.”Last October, on World Mental Health Day, Iga Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, announced she was donating $50,000 in prize money to a mental-health organization. She is open about the value of having the psychologist Daria Abramowicz as a member of her traveling staff. Venus Williams has partnered with the WTA to donate $2 million to BetterHelp, an online therapy site, to provide free service.Sports psychology and mental wellness are not new concepts. Ivan Lendl hired the therapist Alexis Castorri in 1985 to help him after he had lost three straight U.S. Open finals. He went on to win the next three. But only recently have players been so open about seeking counseling.Mardy Fish, the former touring pro and captain of the United States Davis Cup team, opened the discussion when he said he had panic attacks before his fourth-round match against Roger Federer at the 2012 U.S. Open. Fish withdrew from that match and was subsequently diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. He shed light on his journey in a Netflix documentary.Iga Swiatek of Poland, who won the French Open in 2020, has a psychologist on her traveling staff.Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesNaomi Osaka made headlines last May when she dropped out of the French Open, citing mental health concerns. She lost in the third round at the U.S. Open in September, and just returned to the tour in Australia this month.Jim Loehr, a clinical psychologist, has been practicing since the 1970s and founded the Center for Athletic Excellence in Denver. He has seen the field evolve.“Back then, people were very quiet about seeing anyone who could help their game mentally,” said Loehr, who is also a co-founder of the Human Performance Institute. “And we couldn’t talk about it either because our work is confidential. Now, everyone seems to have a sports psychologist.“That makes perfect sense,” he said. “Athletes need a team around them in order to ignite extraordinary performances. A coach is there for biomechanical expertise in stroke production. Then there are physios and massage therapists to facilitate healing and trainers, nutritionists, sports psychologists, even spiritual advisers. The body is pretty complicated, and it works best when all parts are integrated. The healthier and happier you are, the more you light it up on the court.”The WTA and the ATP have also taken note of the importance of well-being. The ATP has teamed with Sporting Chance, a British mental health organization. ATP players can call counselors and therapists 24 hours a day, seven days a week.“We have a hand-in-hand collaboration that makes it feel like an in-house service,” said Ross Hutchins, a former tour player and the ATP’s chief tour officer. “The goal is to make players more open to talking about their issues in a more comfortable manner. They may not want to chitchat about it the way they would with physical injuries, but we want to make it OK for them to feel any way they do.”Maria Sakkari, a semifinalist at the French and United States Opens in 2021, said she has long worked with a psychologist. “It’s probably the best gift I’ve ever done for myself.”Hector Vivas/Getty Images The WTA, which has offered mental health services for more than 20 years, recently began a more aggressive approach by adding four mental health care providers, one of whom is at tournaments year-round. Services include strategies for managing the mental and emotional challenges of match play, handling finances, and transitioning to life after tennis.“Our job is to help the athletes be their best outside of the court,” said Becky Ahlgren Bedics, the WTA’s vice president for mental health and wellness. “We don’t touch the X’s and O’s. We’re part of the holistic development. We are there to help with the pebble in your shoe during a run. We say, ‘Let’s stop and take the pebble out before it gets to be a bigger problem.’”The major championships are on board as well. At the Australian Open, which begins on Monday, a sports psychiatrist and psychologist are available to players. So are health and well-being experts. There are quiet rooms where players can relax and focus without distraction. There are even soundproof, private pods within the player areas.Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, said the tours were taking the right steps.“I think the world is changing their perception of what mental health is,” she said. “We have that empathy when we see somebody who is physically hurt. Mental health is something that is invisible. But it is as strong, as powerful, as physical health.”Soderling doesn’t play much tennis anymore, other than with his two children. After multiple attempts at a comeback, each time followed by another panic attack, he stopped. Now he owns RS Sports, a sportswear company, and serves as captain of the Swedish Davis Cup team. He considers himself healed and will help anyone who asks.“As an athlete we’re treated to the best medical care you could have if you have a knee or a wrist injury,” Soderling said. “But it’s taken a long time to work with the mental aspect. It’s a shame it’s called mental health because it was not only in my head. My whole body was affected.“I’m glad to see there’s a better understanding of mental health today,” he added. “But it’s sad that it had to happen to so many people before it was taken seriously.” More

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      The Strategy, and Importance, of the Service Toss

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      Tennis players work for years perfecting the move, and finding the sweet spot can strikingly improve their game.The tennis ball ascends into the air and for a brief moment — like the one atop a roller coaster — all is tranquil. And then, bam, the racket, whipping through the air, makes contact and the action begins.The serve is the only time in tennis when the human hand, not the racket, dictates the direction and placement of the ball. And that makes starting with a good toss essential to winning.“You have total control of the serve, and so the toss is a key component,” said Craig Boynton, who coached John Isner and now coaches Hubert Hurkacz, who climbed from 35th to 9th in the rankings in 2021 as his service results improved.Aryna Sabalenka, ranked second on the women’s tour, noted in an email that “without a consistent toss you cannot have a consistent serve.”Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, whose strength enables a higher toss, serves against Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia during the 2021 US Open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City.Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesThe toss may be the most underrated aspect of a player’s game for the pros, says the ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert. It looms even larger at the club level for recreational players, where many players lose control, often using too much wrist, bending their elbow or letting their arm drift. “If you lose control of your ball toss, you will lose your serve,” he said.The ideal is to hit the ball in that split second when it stops moving at the apex, said Jimmy Arias, the tennis director of IMG Academy, but there’s not one perfect toss height.Sabalenka and Taylor Fritz, ranked 23rd on the men’s tour, said in recent years they had started tossing the ball higher as they learned to use their legs to push off more, generating greater height and force.“You want to maximize the height you make contact with the ball on the serve,” Sabalenka explained. “As I got stronger I was able to bend and jump more up to the ball. That allowed me to toss the ball up a bit higher.”Boynton said that some big servers, like Andy Roddick, had a quicker motion and thus had a lower toss, while many Europeans learned a longer motion that required more time and a higher toss. “The height is partially determined by how long your motion is.”Sabalenka said players have their own ideal toss. “It takes a lot of practice to figure out what works best for you, your body, your particular motion, and your timing.”The goal, Arias said, is finding a motion and toss where the player is neither rushing nor waiting. “Serving is all about the rhythm, and the toss dictates that.”Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in action during his group stage match against Alexander Zverev of Germany at the Nitto ATP Finals tennis tournament in Turin, Italy, in November.Alessandro Di Marco/EPA, via ShutterstockAmong current players, Denis Shapovalov, Alexander Zverev and Federico Delbonis have notably high tosses. “Delbonis tosses it over the moon and has to wait five minutes for it to come down,” Arias said, which is fine except that he believed that when nerves creep in at big moments the higher toss and longer wait could create problems.Shapovalov, who has changed his approach several times, and Zverev have both often been plagued by double faults or second-serve struggles.“Zverev has to let it drop, but could go to a lower ball toss on his second serve,” Gilbert suggested, which would speed up Zverev’s motion and help solve his problem.But that would be a radical change, which may be necessary for a club player or someone on the junior level, but which is rare on the pro tour. At that level players do not separate out the toss for isolated practice. Fritz even laughed at the question. (To perfect his toss growing up, Gilbert would work on it walking to school and while sitting in a chair. “If you have to leave the chair to catch the ball then your toss is moving you.”)While Boynton said he believed it could be worthwhile overhauling a club or junior player’s toss and having them practice it separate from the serve, he would not make major changes at the professional level.Serena Williams, often credited with a “perfect toss,” serves against Belarus’s Aliaksandra Sasnovich during their women’s singles first round match on the second day of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in JuneAdrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images“For the pros, it’s more about tweaking the timing and the rhythm of all these moving parts,” he said, adding that last year he worked with Hurkacz on not letting the tossing arm speed up, which helped generate a more consistently big serve.Redoing a professional’s toss can be “very dangerous,” Arias said, but added that if it worked the results could be striking. He pointed to Marin Cilic, who had failed to reach his potential until his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, redid Cilic’s serve in 2013. Ivanisevic, who ranks second all-time in percentage of first service points won, had Cilic toss the ball further out in front (and a little lower). In 2014, Cilic won the United States Open.A good toss is not just about height, it’s also a matter of location. Gilbert said that an “elite toss” hits the spot from which you could hit your topspin, flat or slice serve.He said Andy Roddick, Pete Sampras and Serena Williams were dominant servers in part because “every toss was perfect” and they hit the ball at 12 o’clock, with no sideways drift so it was impossible to read before contact. (Arias practiced with Sampras “a million times,” but could not read his serves.)“You need to toss it in the same spot every time and not give away where you’re serving,” Fritz said, adding, “I would only move my toss around because of the sun.”But the 56th-ranked Jenson Brooksby said that while a toss must be in the right area, he did not strain for perfection. “There is a margin of error that does not matter,” he wrote in an email.Sabalenka and Fritz said top players disguised their serves well, but Brooksby said on the men’s tour Roger Federer is best. Boynton also praised Nick Kyrgios, while Arias said Novak Djokovic was underrated, explaining that he shortens the returner’s reaction time by tossing the ball further out in front of him.“If you could teach a long jumper to toss the ball all the way out to the service line, then hitting the serve would be like [a player at the net] hitting” an overhead for him,” Arias said. More

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      Twenty Years Ago, a Tennis Comeback in Australia Like No Other

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      Martina Hingis was way ahead in the final, but Jennifer Capriati made history in the oppressive heat and won.The day that Jennifer Capriati played the match of her career was sweltering.It was late January 2002, and Capriati, then 25, was facing Martina Hingis, 21, in the women’s final of the Australian Open in Melbourne. The conditions were so oppressive — on-court temperatures reached 115 Fahrenheit (46 Celsius) — that both players slumped against stadium backdrops between points, even after bathing in ice during a 10-minute break between the second and third sets. They even took turns plopping their worn-out bodies down in a lineswoman’s chair.It’s been 20 years since Capriati came back from a set and 4-0 down to defeat Hingis 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 and claim the third and final major of her career. In doing so, she became the first woman in Grand Slam history to save four match points and win the title.“The way they both were hitting in that match was just amazing,” said Harold Solomon, Capriati’s coach from 1999 to 2000. “Jennifer was an amazing ball striker because she took the ball so early and she wasn’t afraid, even when she was down. She was as good an athlete as anyone who has ever been in the game, and that includes the Williams sisters.”The match would go down as one of the greatest comebacks in women’s Grand Slam tennis history. No woman since has saved four match points to win a major final.Capriati had her professional debut in March 1990, just before her 14th birthday and reached the semifinals of the French Open that year and the round of 16 at Wimbledon and the United States Open. By the end of the season she had won her first WTA tournament and was ranked within the world’s top 10.Hingis was also a child prodigy. She reached her first U.S. Open semifinal in 1996 when she was 15 years old. The following year she advanced to the finals of all four majors, winning Wimbledon and the Australian and U.S. Opens.In 1992, Capriati beat Steffi Graf to win gold at the Barcelona Olympics. But a series of events in 1993 and ’94, including a shoplifting charge, an arrest for marijuana possession and a stint in drug rehab, nearly derailed her career.But Capriati fought her way back, and in 2001 she won the Australian Open by beating Hingis, the world No. 1. Capriati followed that up with a win over Kim Clijsters in the final of the French Open and semifinal finishes at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. In October 2001, Capriati became No. 1 in the world.In the final Capriati came back from a set and 4-0 down to defeat Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.Jon Buckle/EMPICS, via Getty Images“Determination and will were always strong suits for Jennifer,” said Denise Capriati, Jennifer’s mother, by phone from her Florida home. “She always knew how to fight.”But no match was as striking as the 2002 Australian final. Hingis raced to a 6-4, 4-0 lead and held a point for 5-0. She did so by using Capriati’s blistering pace to hit short angles followed by forays to the net and soft touch volley winners.But Hingis double-faulted on a key point and Capriati took advantage. She saved one match point with a backhand down-the-line winner and another after a 14-stroke rally. Two more match points went by the wayside in the tiebreaker prompting Hingis to toss her racket in disgust before both players left the court for the cool of the locker room.“At that point, we knew Jennifer had the match,” said her mother, who was seated in the players’ box. “She was better in the heat.”With high temperatures both players tried to cool down with ice bags and water during breaks.Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesHingis had leg cramps and was treated after the fifth game of the third set. In the next game she served three inexplicable foot faults and handed the crucial break to Capriati.“I really don’t know how I managed to win,” Capriati said at the time. “I got my second wind, third wind, fourth wind, I don’t know how many winds out there.”For Hingis, who reached the Australian final six straight years, winning the title from 1997 to ’99, the loss was devastating. “It was a tough final for her to lose, and it’s difficult for her to talk about/want to reflect,” Natasha Marks, her representative, said in a text message. Hingis declined to be interviewed for this article.Capriati did not respond to repeated phone and text messages.After the hype early in her career, Capriati engineered her own free fall and then her own resurgence. The 2002 Australian Open was the culmination.“She wanted it so bad,” Denise said. “She had fought so hard and done so many things. She was so disciplined to come back. She was doing it just for herself.” More

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      Novak Djokovic's Legal Options Are Narrow

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      Novak Djokovic’s lawyers went to court on Saturday morning to challenge the Australian immigration minister’s decision to cancel his visa again, but experts said that he would find it much more difficult than his first court challenge.During a brief hearing Saturday, Justice David O’Callaghan of the Federal Court of Australia said a full hearing on Djokovic’s appeal would be held on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. He granted the Djokovic legal team’s request that a full panel of judges hear the case rather than a single judge, which means the court’s decision on the matter cannot be appealed. A lawyer for the immigration minister had opposed that request.If Djokovic doesn’t want to simply comply with the cancellation and leave the country, he will need to apply for a court injunction to stop the Australian authorities from deporting him while his lawyers file a challenge, according to Mary Anne Kenny, an associate professor of law at Murdoch University.That would allow him to stay in the country, but he would most likely be held in immigration detention, where he was kept for five days before his first court challenge and where he is being held until the hearing on Sunday.He could, however, apply to the government for a bridging visa to let him stay out of immigration detention and continue to play tennis. But according to Daniel Estrin, an immigration lawyer, Djokovic is unlikely to be granted such a visa because he would have to abide by the condition that he cannot work. His participation in the Australian Open which begins on Monday, then, would disqualify him.But because the discretionary powers of the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, are so broad, Estrin and Kenny said Djokovic would find it significantly more difficult than his first appeal.The minister just needed to demonstrate that Djokovic might be a risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community, Estrin said. That is a very low threshold — “anyone might be a risk to the Australian community if you look at it very broadly” — making it extremely difficult for Djokovic to argue his case on substance, he added.Instead, Djokovic would need to prove that Hawke made an “jurisdictional error,” or applied the law wrong, Estrin said — a much higher legal threshold.Djokovic’s lawyers will not be allowed to replead his case or argue that he should have been allowed into Australia, Estrin said, meaning that, as in his first appeal, he would have to succeed on procedural grounds.“The court doesn’t look at whether the minister made the right decision,” Estrin said. “The court will only look at whether the minister committed some error of law.” More

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      Chris Evert, Tennis Hall of Famer, Says She Has Ovarian Cancer

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      The early-stage cancer was detected after a preventive hysterectomy, and it has not spread elsewhere in her body, according to ESPN.The former tennis star Chris Evert, an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, has an early form of ovarian cancer, she said Friday in a story posted on ESPN.com.The stage 1C cancer was detected after a preventive hysterectomy, and it has not spread elsewhere in her body, according to the story. Ms. Evert, 67, who began the first of six rounds of chemotherapy this week, is an analyst for ESPN.The cancer was removed during the hysterectomy, and there is a greater than 90 percent chance it won’t return, according to the story.“I’ve lived a very charmed life,” Ms. Evert said in the story. “Now I have some challenges ahead of me. But, I have comfort in knowing the chemotherapy is to ensure that cancer does not come back.”A representative for Ms. Evert did not immediately reply to an email late Friday.Ms. Evert is one of the most celebrated players in tennis history. She became the first player, male or female, to win 1,000 singles matches and was ranked first or second in the world from 1975 to 1986, according to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.Dr. Joel Cardenas, a doctor for Ms. Evert, said in the story that an early diagnosis is more likely if a patient is current on doctor visits, understands her family history and has a good relationship with her gynecologist.“Women should know the risk factors, too — endometriosis, history of breast cancer and infertility are among them,” he said. “The average age for ovarian cancer diagnosis is 63.”Genetic testing and counseling are encouraged if a patient has a family history of ovarian cancer, Mr. Cardenas said.Ms. Evert’s younger sister, Jeanne Evert Dubin, also a professional tennis player, died of ovarian cancer in February 2020 at age 62. Ovarian cancer can run in families, and one’s risk is increased if a mother, sister or daughter has had the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.Ms. Dubin was with Ms. Evert as the pair rushed through an airport in October 2017 when the older sister noticed Ms. Dubin was out of breath, according to the ESPN story. Shortly after that, a doctor detected ovarian cancer in Ms. Dubin. It was in a late stage and had spread.“When I go into chemo, she is my inspiration,” Ms. Evert said. “I’ll be thinking of her. And she’ll get me through it.” More

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      Novak Djokovic’s Fight to Stay in Australia Lives Another Day

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      A federal court judge scheduled a Sunday hearing to address the unvaccinated tennis star’s Australian visa revocation. The Australian Open begins on Monday.Novak Djokovic, the top men’s tennis player in the world, was detained by border authorities in Australia, on Saturday, the latest turn in a legal dispute over his travel visa that has drawn interest around the world and inflamed tensions during a rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak.The Australian minister for immigration revoked Djokovic’s travel visa for the second time on Friday because of concerns that Djokovic had violated the country’s rules intended to limit the spread of the virus, arguing that his high-profile status could harm the nation’s battle against the coronavirus.The matter could be resolved in a courtroom showdown Sunday at 9:30 a.m. local time. If the decision to cancel the visa is upheld, Djokovic, 34, could be forced out of the Australian Open tennis tournament and deported, a stunning development should it unfold that way. Then again, if the court rules in favor of Djokovic and allows him to remain, that would be equally shocking to many people who feel the player has already received preferential treatment.Both sides are expected to submit legal papers laying out their arguments to the court on Saturday after Djokovic was ordered to attend the hearing remotely by video from his attorney’s offices.Djokovic’s legal team asked that a full panel of judges hear the case rather than a single judge, which would mean the court’s decision on the matter could not be appealed. Justice David O’Callaghan said he would inform the parties later on Saturday of his decision on that question.Djokovic was appealing the most recent ruling in a case that has highlighted the global challenge of balancing the fight against the coronavirus and a return to so-called normal life, amid a swirl of political ramifications.The matter has produced outrage in Australia and beyond. Djokovic, who refuses to be vaccinated, has long held unorthodox and unscientific views of health. Many see the visa controversy as his devious attempt to leverage his status as an elite sports star to flout rules followed by ordinary Australians and others who travel there. The law states that anyone entering the country is required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus unless they have a medical exemption.In Serbia, Djokovic’s home country, and elsewhere, the ongoing incident is seen by some as an unfair attempt to prevent him from winning a record 21st Grand Slam by defending his title at the Australian Open, which begins Monday. Earlier in the week, his supporters clashed with police in Melbourne.In a statement explaining why he revoked Djokovic’s visa a second time, Alex Hawke, Australia’s minister for immigration, argued that if Djokovic were allowed to remain in Australia and play, the influential tennis star could harm efforts to combat the virus. The government has conceded that Djokovic poses no imminent threat to spread the disease. It is more about the example it would set by allowing him to stay.“Given Mr. Djokovic’s high-profile status and position as a role model in the sporting and broader community,” Hawke said in a statement, “his ongoing presence in Australia may foster similar disregard for the precautionary requirements following receipt of a positive Covid-19 test in Australia.”Djokovic’s lawyers argue that the government unfairly based their decision to revoke his visa again on the premise that Djokovic would engender anti-vaccine sentiments and not on the rule of law.All of it comes during a surge in coronavirus cases globally, and particularly in Australia, which has endured long lockdowns and restrictions. Initially, sentiment in Australia seemed to support Djokovic because he came to Melbourne under the impression that he had a legal exemption. But as more information emerged, including false statements and Djokovic’s cavalier approach after he tested positive in December, the mood has largely turned against him.Djokovic was initially given the an exemption to the federal requirement that everyone entering Australia be vaccinated against the coronavirus so that he could play in the Australian Open. It was granted based on a positive test he took in Serbia on Dec. 16. But soon after he arrived at the Melbourne airport on Jan. 5, he was detained by the federal authorities and sent to a hotel for refugees and asylum seekers.A judge quickly rescinded the detention order on procedural grounds, saying that Djokovic had not been given a fair opportunity to consult with representatives and allies, like the organizers of the tournament. He was allowed to leave detention and hit the practice courts and prepare to compete for what would be his fourth consecutive Australian Open title and record 10th over all.But an investigation revealed irregularities and inaccurate statements on Djokovic’s visa application — which Djokovic later acknowledged and apologized for on Wednesday. The documents failed to state that Djokovic, who lives in Monte Carlo, had traveled between Serbia and Spain during the 14 days ahead of his arrival in Australia. Djokovic attributed the error to human oversight by one of his handlers.The Australian government also expressed concern that on Dec. 18, a day after Djokovic learned that he had tested positive, he hosted journalists at his tennis center in Belgrade for an interview and photo shoot, without informing them. Those revelations led to the second visa revocation on Friday.Some skeptics wondered if Djokovic’s positive test might have been faked to help him earn the exemption. On Friday, Zoran Gojkovic, a member of Serbia’s coronavirus crisis team, said the player’s positive test result was valid. He added that Djokovic had not violated any Serbian laws, especially since the state of emergency was lifted last month.The Novak Djokovic Standoff With AustraliaCard 1 of 4A vaccine exemption question. More

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      Novak Djokovic Is Detained Awaiting Hearing on Australian Visa

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      Novak Djokovic was taken into custody on Saturday by immigration officials as he fights the Australian government’s efforts to deport him.Court documents filed by his lawyers confirmed that as of 9:19 a.m. in Melbourne he was being held in immigration detention as a court decides whether he can be deported after entering Australia without being vaccinated.A judge had ruled that Djokovic would be allowed to stay at his residence until a Saturday morning meeting with immigration officials, after which he was taken into custody and escorted to the office of his attorneys. It was unclear where he was held after that.Border officers are expected to escort him again to his attorney’s offices on Sunday morning for the hearing in which both sides will lay out their case.The judge has ruled that Djokovic cannot be deported until after the court appeal is over. It is unclear whether he would voluntarily leave the country. His lawyers did not return emails seeking comment on Saturday.Djokovic’s lawyers, worried about the media storm around his case, have sought to keep his location secret. A judge ruled that both Djokovic’s attorneys and the immigration department had to agree upon his whereabouts.On Friday, Djokovic’s lawyers unsuccessfully argued that he should be kept out of immigration detention for the duration of the appeal. More

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      If Djokovic Goes, What Happens to the Australian Open Bracket?

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      “Limbo,” the former Australian Open tournament director Paul McNamee had said this week, “is the worst scenario for the tournament.”Yet for days, the uncertainty of Novak Djokovic’s status had hung over the event. The decision on Friday to cancel his visa for the second time could yield some clarity. His plan to appeal that ruling will only extend it.But coming when it did, a day after Djokovic was placed in the No. 1 spot in the men’s draw, the cancellation of his visa — if it is upheld — could force a reshuffling of the men’s bracket.If Djokovic were to be kicked out of Australia, the draw for the men’s singles tournament would have to be reconfigured. According to Grand Slam rules, the No. 5 seed, Andrey Rublev, would move into Djokovic’s vacant slot in the draw. Rublev’s place at No. 5 would then be filled by another seed as part of a series of cascading changes.But if Djokovic appeals and delays his departure, or if his withdrawal were to come after the order of play for opening day has been released, his place would be taken by a so-called lucky loser: a player who had lost in the qualifying tournament and then been drawn by lot to receive a newly open spot.And instead of having Djokovic as the favorite to win his record 10th title, and 21st Grand Slam singles championship over all, the focus would shift to three of his most likely rivals for the trophy: the U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev; the Olympic champion Alexander Zverev; and the 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.None of it, of course, is ideal for the Open.“If Novak was going to be kicked out,” McNamee said, “the time to do it was before the draw.” More