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Novak Djokovic Returns to the Australian Open, No Longer a Villain

Djokovic’s deportation was major news in January 2022, but a year later, the Grand Slam tournament, country and sport seem eager to move on.

Novak Djokovic has won the Australian Open nine times, a men’s tournament record.Credit...Patrick Hamilton/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

MELBOURNE, Australia — It was the day before the Australian Open, and the Park Hotel in Melbourne’s Carlton neighborhood was closed with only the occasional pedestrian passing in front of the dusty, deserted entrance on a sedate Sunday.

Quite a different scene than last year, when Novak Djokovic, the world’s No.