Tennis Australia has dropped the ball by allowing Novak Djokovic to play to Australian Open

Horrified, perhaps. Angry, yes. Frustrated, let down, disgusted, feeling like we've all just been given a massive slap in the face.

Sadness for the residents of this country who have time and again been denied international and interstate travel during this pandemic to see dying loved ones. For those who have been separated from their children, or unable to attend the funeral of a close friend or family member.

Unfortunately, the rules are different if you're a global sporting superstar, even if you've exhibited zero respect for a virus that has infected almost 300 million people across the world over the past two years.

But, I ask again. Are we really surprised this has happened?

A COVID vaccine mandate is in place at this year's Australian Open. Unvaccinated players wishing to contest the tournament were able to apply for a "medical exemption" which, if granted, would allow them to compete in the Australian Open.

That's exactly what Djokovic did. And it was granted. There are two sets of rules.

Tennis Australia and the Victorian government had a tremendous opportunity to make a statement here, and they didn't.

Instead they've thrown around explanatory terminology like "two-stage independent process to verify they have a genuine medical condition that meets the criteria for an exemption", desperately trying to appease a raging public.

TA boss Craig Tiley has also encouraged Djokovic to explain the situation upon his arrival in Australia. An arrival which no longer requires 14 days of quarantine.

Let me give you a quick run down of the 34-year-old's COVID history.

He caught the virus back in the middle of 2020, before Omicron or even Delta were part of our daily vernacular. That was thanks to a tennis event and subsequent soiree he organised, inviting coronavirus to infect whoever it pleased.

He has publicly stated his opposition to mandatory vaccinations, and has also publicly refused to disclose whether or not he is actually vaccinated.

We must assume the latter, since the Victorian health department saw fit to help create two independent panels of medical experts to assess him.

I'm no medical expert, but I'll tell you this. Novak is in pretty decent shape.

A record-equaling 20 Grand Slam titles and more than $205 million in prizemoney backs that up pretty well. Should he win his fourth-straight Australian Open, and 10^th of all time, he will break the Grand Slam record he shares with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

As a devout parishioner of the Federer faith, this is quite hard to say. But Djokovic is the greatest of all time.

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So to make a sporting case for TA and the Victorian government, their decision to allow Djokovic into the country opens up the very likely possibility that history will be made on our shores this summer.

The Serbian superstar has long been the pantomime villain of tennis in this country, ever since he won his first Open title here in 2008.

For so long he's tried to win over our tennis public in the manner that Federer and Nadal did so effortlessly through their grace and humility - two qualities Djokovic still hasn't discovered through his record-breaking career.

This latest chapter has set him back even further than when he started.

He'll face a disgruntled public, while sharing a locker room with a bunch of players who have been left equally dumbfounded by the decision to let him in.

So what's left to do, but embrace it?

Djokovic brings theatre. He brings polarisation. He brings a level of tennis we may never see again. Let's just hope he doesn't bring more COVID.

Strap yourselves in for an Australian Open like no other. The sport's biggest name is about to land.