Finally.

After six days, Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke canceled the entry visa for tennis world number one Novak Djokovic on Friday.

Only so that his lawyers continue to struggle to bring him to Center Court in Melbourne.

Australia is a constitutional state.

But for more and more Australians, the twists and turns of the system, the long waits and the wrangling of judges and government politicians are difficult to understand.

The entry of the Serb to win his tenth title "Down Under" became a drama that harmed Australia, but at least as much harm to the top athlete. The only right thing would have been not to let the 34-year-old – and all the other unvaccinated people – cross the border in the first place. Given the severity of the pandemic and the traditional harshness of Australia's entry policies, the largely undefined shades of gray in the regulations have hurt everyone.

Black or white - that would have given athletes, politicians and the public the necessary feeling of security. As a world athlete, Djokovic should have overcome himself and had himself vaccinated. Or give up the tournament. Especially since he was absolutely keen to play in Melbourne in order to become the king of professional players with a win in 21 Grand Slam tournament victories. That is understandable. It is incomprehensible that although he made every effort to meet the Australians' contradictory demands on the surface, more and more inconsistencies emerged.

They implied that his advisers and "agents" were incompetent. They should never have presented their cash cow before departure in Serbia and Spain, never filled out the visa form incorrectly and never allowed the allegedly infected person to walk around without a mask. The fact that the family and the Serbian government would have preferred to invade Australia the first time the visa was revoked left the impression that a sports millionaire had lost all traction here.

Everyone is now damaged: Djokovic is also down in large parts of the sports world.

Australia's federal and state governments stand ready to be played against the wall by a top athlete and his lawyers.

And Tennis Australia appears like a group of amateurs who would rather not have a tournament in times of crisis.

It will take a long time for the wounds to heal.

At least the bleeding from the open wound should be stopped on Monday when the first balls are hit in Melbourne.

Unless Djokovic still plays.