It was ugly and embarrassing, and the Djokovic saga only ever had one possible ending

Scott Morrison kept Novak Djokovic waiting nine days for the ultimate and inevitable decision to tear up his visa, no doubt ensuring the Serb suffered further for causing trouble the government struggled to handle.

However, the damage to Australian tourism and Australian sport caused by a single, stubborn tennis player and a hesitant federal government could require a formal inquiry to sort out.

Morrison has had to juggle complex factors involving big sport, inflamed diplomatic contacts, and his self-burnished record as being untiringly vigilant on Australian borders.

The Djokovic furore appeared to overwhelm the government, with as many as four ministers involved in its resolution. They were home affairs minister Karen Andrews, immigration minister Alex Hawke, foreign minister Marise Payne, and Morrison himself.

This was reinforced by Hawke in the final line in his statement.

The inevitability also was a product of the fact Morrison had the villain he needed to resolve the mess.

Naughty Novak confirmed he had mixed with others, specifically a journalist, when he should have been isolating after a 16 December positive Covid test. And he regretted his support team accidentally ticked the wrong box on Australian entry papers. He has apologised for both mistakes.

Morrison will not show gratitude for the admissions, but they have rescued the prime minister from a performance that was testing his talents at a time when the Covid wave was straining those talents in another direction.

A small opinion survey by Utting Research found just over 50% of voters wanted Djokovic out, with 31% wanting him to stay.

Those anti-Djokovic voices would have been loud and clear to Morrison as he hoped to drown out angry appraisals of his management of Covid testing measures.