Novak Djokovic still haunted by the 2022 Australia deportation experience

Tennis legend Novak Djokovic has arrived for the 2025 Australian Open Grand Slam. Before that, Djokovic admitted that he is still haunted by his experience during the 2022 Australian Open. The 24-time grand slam winner came to the Melbourne airport three years ago and was deported by the Airport authorities due to Covid-19 rules.

He came un-vaccinated by then and according to Australia’s Covid law, the Serbian was kept inside the airport and was not allowed to enter the country. He was then detained and missed the entire tournament. Now returning to Australia, Novak Djokovic still feels the trauma he had during that time.

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Talking to a newspaper Djokovic said, “I have to be quite frank. The last couple of times I landed in Australia, to go through passport control and immigration- I had a bit of trauma from three years ago. And some traces still stay there when I’m passing passport control, just checking out if someone from the immigration zone is approaching.”

Novak says that he still feels like getting detained when the authorities check his passport. After his horrible experience in 2022, the Serbian returned to Australia for the 2023 Australian Open and won the title for the 10th time. 

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Novak's Covid horror in Australia

He also made it clear that he doesn't feel angry or have a grudge against anyone in the country. Djokovic pointed out his 2023 win after being detained in 2022. He added that he felt happy after winning the 2023 Australian Open title in front of his family. Novak had a pretty bad 2024 season and this year he will start fresh aiming for his 25th Grand Slam in Australia. The 7th-ranked tennis seed won only the Olympic gold medal match against Carlos Alcaraz and lost all the grand slams.

He is the only player remaining in the big three as his fellow mates Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal retired from the great game. When asked about his retirement Djokovic said he still hasn't decided. But we believe the Serbian will play at least the full 2025 season.

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