Unvaccinated Novak Djokovic Welcomed With Open Arms for Australian Open a Year After Deportation

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic received raucous applause on Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena court Friday night, his first time back to the top Australian tennis stage since the government imprisoned him in a migrant detention facility and deported him for not ingesting a Chinese coronavirus vaccine last year.

Djokovic is expected to play this year’s Australian Open – one of the four “Grand Slams,” the world’s most prestigious tennis tournaments – and is a favorite to win the contest, which begins Monday.

Djokovic visited Rod Laver Arena to face Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios in a charity match. He formed an unlikely friendship with Kyrgios during the vaccine mandate crisis.

Djokovic is the most well-known tennis player to declare that he has not been vaccinated since he was infected with the Chinese Coronavirus multiple times since the outbreak in 2019. Scott Morrison was the former Australian Prime Minister. He was a conservative and Canberra implemented strict quarantine measures for its citizens as well as mandatory vaccinations for foreigners.

Djokovic had a legal visa that allowed him to enter the country early in 2022. He also obtained a medical exemption from the vaccination requirement. However, the government still imprisoned him and eventually deported him. Fear His presence in the country would be a boon. “excite anti-vaccine sentiment.” Morrison’s government banned Djokovic from entering Australia for three years.

The fallout from Morrison’s coronavirus policies, fueled in part by public outrage over the Djokovic fiasco, preceded Morrison’s party losing power. Anthony Albanese, a left-leaning Prime Minister, is now in power. In office In May Elevated Morrison’s coronavirus rules for foreign travelers in August. Djokovic was able to use the new rules. Get there In Australia, late December was without incident

Great to be back in Australia 🇺 And after 15 years excited to play in Adelaide, Kaurna Land 🙏🙌 Looking forward to play some good tennis 🎾💪 Glad to have my brother Marko @djokomare with me and my team for 2023 season https://t.co/L5P2XAfjui

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) December 30, 2022

Djokovic played several warmup tournaments to the Australian Open before this weekend, but Friday’s exhibition match was his first return to the Australian Open grounds. The head of Tennis Australia, Craig Tiley – apparently fearing the crowd would be hostile in light of last year’s immigration disaster – warned prior to the match that organizers would show zero tolerance for hecklers.

“If they disrupt the enjoyment of anyone else – boom, they are out,” Tiley said in an interview with the Herald Sun. “We don’t want them on site. They can stay away or we will kick them out.”

The crowd, heavily populated by fellow Serbians, showed nothing but enthusiasm for Djokovic’s return:

Unbeaten on Rod Laver in five years, Novak Djokovic returns to the court.

“I feel a bit emotional.”#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/lMjGEEFVUD

— James Gray (@jamesgraysport) January 13, 2023

“If there were any boos, they were drowned out by an overwhelming show of affection from an adoring crowd who had paid just £11 ($13.43) for tickets and sold out the 15,000-capacity arena in just 58 minutes,” i sports correspondent James Gray wrote of the event.

“It just feels great to be back in Australia, back in Melbourne,” Djokovic told the audience. “This is the court and the stadium where I created the best memories of my professional tennis career. Back in 2008 was the first time I won a grand slam, it was here, and 15 years later I’m here again and I’m competing at the high level”:

When you even the score 🕺🏻@djokernole grabs the second set 4-2 against Kyrgios to level the match.#AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/c7i1OrtNsh

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 13, 2023

Djokovic has won 21 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other man aside from Rafael Nadal – who won the 2022 Australian Open after Djokovic’s deportation. Djokovic’s first Grand Slam victory was at the 2008 Australian Open; he has won the title nine times.

The extended saga last year that resulted in Djokovic not being able to play for a 21st title – he later obtained it at Wimbledon, which imposed less onerous coronavirus vaccine requirements but banned Russian and Belarusian players in solidarity with Ukraine – began in late 2021 with his father, Srdjan, accusing the Australian government of “blackmail” and stating in an interview that he did not believe he would travel to the country because of vaccine requirements. The younger Djokovic applied for a medical exemption from the vaccine mandate, reportedly on the grounds that he had recently tested positive for Chinese coronavirus, and received a valid visa. He was arrested shortly after arriving in Melbourne, however, and tossed into a migrant detention facility, treated as an illegal alien.

Djokovic’s arrest prompted mass protests outside of the facility by Serbian-Australian fans and immigration activists demanding the liberation of everyone at the facility, not just the tennis champion. Australian officials engaged in tense negotiations to subdue the protests and banned an Orthodox priest from visiting Djokovic on the January date those of the Serbian Orthodox faith celebrate Christmas.

Srdjan Djokovic was also expelled from Australia and urged Serbians to “fight them [Australians] in the streets.” The Djokovic family organized rallies in Belgrade against the Australian government.

Following his deportation, in an interview in February, Djokovic stated that he was willing to sacrifice future tournament wins to maintain sovereignty over his body.

“And I understand that not being vaccinated today, I’m unable to travel to most of the tournaments at the moment. That is the price I’m willing to pay,” Djokovic told the BBC. “The principles of decision-making on my body are more important than any title or anything else.”

Amid the scandal, Nick Kyrgios, a longtime Djokovic detractor who had previously described him as “cringeworthy” and a “tool,” loudly condemned his own government for the treatment of his rival.

“Like these memes, headlines, this is one of our great champions but at the end of the day, he is human,” Kyrgios wrote on Twitter. “Do better.”

I just think it’s crazy. I feel so sorry for him. Preparing for an Australian Open or grand slam is enough for someone and the pressures that he has are so unique,” Kyrgios later elaborated on a podcast. “He’s going for 21 slams, being Novak Djokovic preparing is already enough, and I feel with dealing with the media, already having a court case, winning that, and now being detained again from that, still trying to practice, still trying to prepare and now his visa’s cancelled.”

“It’s just a shitshow,” he lamented.

The public comments resulted in the two connecting privately, dramatically changing the tenor of their relationship:

That was one FUN chapter in the @DjokerNole and @NickKyrgios AO story ✌️

Thanks for a great night! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/TxzfI2cAA0

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 13, 2023

The two developed a friendship that became increasingly public and warm prior to their meeting in the Wimbledon men’s singles final last year, which Djokovic won. Kyrgios’s presence in that final was his best-ever performance at a Grand Slam alone; he won the Australian Open doubles title alongside partner Thanasi Kokkinakis last year.

The Australian Open begins Monday. Given coronavirus travel restrictions under leftist President Joe Biden, at press time, Djokovic is not allowed to enter the United States and thus is likely not to be allowed into the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, the U.S. Open.

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