It ‘Stays With You’: Novak Djokovic Returns to Australia after Dramatic Detention and Deportation – Vaccine

Amanda PrestigiacomoDecember 29, 2022

Tennis great Novak Djokovic is back in Australia, almost a year after he was dramatically detained and deported His vaccination status was questioned and he was expelled from Australia, making him ineligible to defend the Australian Open title.

Djokovic claimed he was already fully recovered from the virus but opted not to get it. vaccinated For COVIDThis led to the incident in Australia. He was then barred from participating in the U.S. Open because of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rule regarding the vaccine.

“It’s great to be back in Australia,” Thursday’s statement by the 35-year-old was made. according The New York Post. “It’s a country where I’ve had tremendous success in my career, particularly in Melbourne. It’s by far my most successful Grand Slam. I’m hoping that everything is going to be positive. Obviously (fan reaction) is not something that I can predict.”

Djokovic returns to the country ahead the Australian Open scheduled for January 16.

“I’ll do my best to play good tennis and bring good emotions and good feelings to the crowd,” He said.

“Obviously what happened 12 months ago was not easy for me,” The athlete continued. “for my family, team, anybody who is close to me. It’s obviously disappointing to leave the country like that.”

“You can’t forget those events,” He said. “It’s one of these things that stays with you for I guess the rest of your life. It’s something that I’ve never experienced before and hopefully never again. But it is a valuable life experience for me and something that as I said will stay there, but I have to move on.”

The three-time U.S. Open champion was back in February told According to the BBC, he was willing and able to sacrifice championships in return for these beliefs.

“That is the price that I’m willing to pay,” Djokovic expressed concern about tournaments that might be missed due to the vaccination requirement. “Because the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else. I’m trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can.”

“I was never against vaccination,” He said, “but I’ve always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your body.”

Djokovic noted earlier in the year that he had already recovered. “I had COVID twice, I had COVID in June 2020 and I had COVID recently in — I was tested positive — PCR — 16th of December 2021,” He said.