“[The}ATP continues to strongly recommend vaccination to all players.”

After another day of drama on tournament eve and something of an end to the 11-day saga,leading tennis figures expressed their disappointment with the saga and,significantly,how it had damaged the Australian Open.

Patrick Mouratoglou,best-known as the coach of Serena Williams,described the Djokovic debacle as a mess.

He said he hoped the focus would swing back to the action on the court now that a final decision has been made.“The big loser of this mess is the tournament,” he said on Twitter.

“The only good news is that we will hopefully start talking about tennis.″⁣

Similarly,Australian doubles great Todd Woodbridge touched on the relief that was being felt. “At last we can focus on the tennis,” he said.

Following confirmation that the decision to cancel Djokovic’s visa would not be overturned and his hopes of winning a record-breaking 21st major title were in tatters,attention turned to which player would take the Serbian’s spot in the draw.

That fell to 29-year-old Caruso,the luckiest loser of them all.

Caruso was beaten in the final round of Australian Open qualifying by Taro Daniel,and has never been ranked higher than 76 in the world.

In five previous bids at Melbourne Park,he has reached the second round just once and has won only five of the 15 matches he has played at grand slam level.

Caruso,who dreamed of being a Formula 1 driver,has played predominantly on the secondary Challenger Tour throughout his career after turning professional in 2010.

He has lost to Djokovic in their two outings to date at the French Open in 2019 and at the Rome Masters a year later,failing to take more than three games off him in any set.

However,had the Djokovic deportation decision happened earlier on Sunday – before the opening day’s schedule was released – Russian top-10 player Andrey Rublev was set to be the beneficiary and slot into the top seeding spot.

Under both scenarios,the tournament would have proceeded without an official No.1 seed.

But after the order of play was confirmed – with Djokovic slated to play on Rod Laver Arena after Ash Barty’s opener against qualifier Lesia Tsurenko – that situation changed.

The extraordinary scenario plays right into the hands of seventh seed Matteo Berrettini.

The Wimbledon finalist is now the top-ranked player in the top quarter of the draw – which previously had Djokovic – carving a potentially much easier path to the semi-finals,where he may end up facing Alexander Zverev or Rafael Nadal.

The next best seed in Berrettini’s quarter of the draw is Great Britain’s Cam Norrie,ranked No.12 in the world.

While Berrettini benefits from the Djokovic situation,Nadal and Zverev now also have a much easier path to the final.

The winner of their potential clash will likely have Berrettini – instead of Djokovic – to face in the semi-finals.

The late release of the schedule for the opening day,at 4pm,made for extraordinary drama at a major given the schedule is usually known about 24 hours earlier.

There was derision from some about Sunday’s events. “They dont even have a schedule for tmrw (sic) yet? This. Is. Nuts,” former American star Mardy Fish wrote on Twitter.

But one top-10 player,Norwegian Casper Ruud,wasn’t fazed. “It’s a bit different. It’s interesting. But we’re all used to it,it doesn’t both me too much,” said the eighth seed.

“The grand slams are the tournaments where we know the order of play earlier than anything else,so,we’re used to not knowing until the day before,exactly when we play.

“I’ve been trying to practice a little bit in the morning,a little bit in the afternoon,and a little bit in the evening,to get a feel of both scenarios.”

Ruud was one of the few remaining players who was yet to weigh in on the Djokovic saga.

“At this point,it’s so political. I have no intention of making any political opinions. But you know this is the case,” he said when asked for his view on the issue.

“I’ve seen a lot of people having different opinions about it,and a lot of players having opinions about it. The tournament will be played.

“There has been so much going on back and forth it’s become so political. I don’t really feel too comfortable commenting too much about it because whatever I say will have reactions to it. I prefer to hold my political opinions about this to myself.”

Prominent tennis coach Darren Cahill was among those to lament how the Djokovic visa saga became a sideshow as it continued to threaten the start of the tournament.

“OK. I’m out. I can’t listen to that court case anymore,” said Cahill,a former coach of Lleyton Hewitt,Andre Agassi and Simona Halep,on Twitter

“All a bloody mess. A reminder that the AO actually starts tomorrow morning at 11am. Some great matches&players to kick off Day 1. Here’s the schedule. See ya tomorrow at the AO.”

Tennis Australia simply confirmed that Djokovic’s spot at the top of the 128-man field would officially be taken by one of the “lucky losers”.

“Tennis Australia respects the decision of the Federal Court,” it said.

“As per grand slam rules the No.1 position in the draw has been filled by a lucky loser.

“We look forward to a competitive and exciting Australian Open 2022 and wish all players the best of luck.”

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