Novak Djokovic has arrived in Australia, nearly a year after he was deported from the country, ahead of his bid for a 10th singles title at next month's Australian Open.
The 35-year-old was deported on the eve of this year's tournament in Melbourne after he arrived in the country without being vaccinated against Covid-19.
In November, the Australian government granted the Serbian a visa to travel to the grand slam event, saying it had decided to revoke the decision to cancel Djokovic's visa after considering all relevant factors.
Since the cancellation of Djokovic's visa in January 2022, all Covid-related border restrictions have been removed in Australia, including the requirement to provide evidence of vaccination status to enter the country.
A spokesperson for Tennis Australia confirmed that Djokovic had landed in Adelaide, where he is due to play in the Adelaide International beginning on Sunday.
Earlier on Tuesday, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley told reporters that Djokovic would be arriving in Australia and voiced hopes he would be welcomed.
"I have a great deal of confidence in the Australian public," Tiley said.
"We're a very well-educated sporting public, particularly those who come to the tennis, they love their tennis, they love seeing greatness, they love seeing great athleticism, great matches.
"And I have a lot of confidence that the fans will react like we hope they would react and have respect for that."
The former world number one won the season-ending ATP Finals last month and is the favovurite to claim a 10th Australian Open crown, which would bring him level with Rafa Nadal on 22 grand slam titles.
The 2023 Australian Open takes place at Melbourne Park from 16-29 January.
Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios's late withdrawal from the inaugural edition of the United Cup took his own team mates by surprise as they were left in the dark until minutes before their pre-tournament news conference on Wednesday.
Kyrgios, who is ranked 22nd in the world and reached this year's Wimbledon final, was set to lead Australia in the joint ATP and WTA event, which is being held in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and offers ranking points and $15 million in prize-money.
Organisers said the 27-year-old, who was due to face Britain's Cameron Norrie in his first singles match on Thursday in Group D, withdrew due to injury.
"We literally just found out 10 minutes ago. Obviously it's news to all of us and we just move forward now," co-captain Sam Stosur told reporters.
Kyrgios, who opted out of Australia's Davis Cup team this year, later posted a video on Instagram where he was seen out in the sunshine at a harbour with the caption 'Beautiful day'.
The tournament, which runs from 29 December to 8 January, features 18 countries split into six groups of three, with teams playing two men's and two women's singles matches and a mixed doubles match.
