Commentary Novak Djokovic was considered certain to lose his No. 1 world tennis ranking after being ejected, after a seemingly endless back and forth, from Australia for refusing vaccination against COVID-19. He was therefore unable to play in January in his favorite Grand Slam event, the one he had won a record nine times: the Australian Open.  It was won, in his absence, by rival Rafael Nadal, who was able to edge ahead of Djokovic and Roger Federer—all three were tied at 20 Slams—and win his 21st in Australia. Simultaneously, Djokovic’s record-breaking number of weeks at No. 1 appeared doomed to come to an end. Not only could he not play in Australia, but he also couldn’t play in the USA at the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments—most important except for the Slams—in Indian Wells and Miami, both of which he had won many times. And Djokovic, evidently a man of principle …