Tiley denies information that Djokovic is suing Tennis in Australian court

MELBOURNE –

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley has denied reports Novak Djokovic will sue Tennis Australia after his expulsion from Australia and said he expects world number one to return to play in the Grand Slam next year.

Djokovic, who has won the Australian Open nine times, was denied the opportunity to defend the title he claimed last year when a federal court rejected his attempt to stay in the country to play in the tournament.

Reports have since appeared that Djokovic was going to sue Tennis in Australia, but Tiley denied it in an ABC interview on Sunday.

“No,” Tiley said when asked about the threat of legal action.

“There are a lot of reports coming up on a lot of things, but we’re in a position to focus on making the event happen right now and keep delivering a great event.”

Tiley also believes Djokovic will return to Australia despite the possibility that Serbia could be granted a three-year travel ban on his deportation.

“Yes,” he said when asked if the 20-time Grand Slam winner will return next year.

– Of course he has to play this year, but that’s his intention.

– She is, after all, number one in the world and loves the Australian Open.

Tiley blamed a communication error with the federal government for the problems that led to Djokovic being kicked out of Australia.

“It was an incredibly challenging environment,” he said.

“One or two communication bits do not specify all the amounts of communication that continued leading to the event.

“We knew we were going to have a difficult season, and that’s why there was a lot of contradiction and complexity in the information.” (Reported by Michael Church in Hong Kong, edited by Daniel Wallis)