Novak Djokovic news: World No 1 breaks silence, promises to give more details about ‘unfortunate events’

Shahida Jacobs
February 3, 2022

In his first public appearance since his deportation from Australian, Novak Djokovic met with Serbia’s president and promised to give more details about the “unfortunate events” Down Under.

The world No 1 was unable to defend his Australian Open title after his visa was revoked following a nearly two-week saga that twice ended up in court.

Upon his arrival in Melbourne, Djokovic’s visa was revoked by Australian Border Force as they felt that he “failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia”.

He then decided to challenge the ruling and a judge quashed the original decision only for the country’s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to cancel his visa for a second time. Although he again challenged the ruling in court, three judges unanimously upheld Hawke’s decision.

The 35-year-old eventually left Australia and in a short statement he revealed his disappointment over the decision, Djokovic vowed to keep quiet until after the tournament.

With the tournament finishing on Sunday, Djokovic made his first public appearance on Thursday as he met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner thanked his compatriots for their support and described events in Australia as “unfortunate”.

“I wanted to meet with you today because, primarily as a citizen of Serbia, I felt a great need to thank you for great support that you, as the president of Serbia, gave me, as well as all state institutions during the unfortunate events in Australia,” he said.

“Although I was alone in detention, and faced with many problems and challenges, I wasn’t feeling lonely. I had huge support primarily from my family, all of the close people in my life, entire Serbian nation, many people with good intentions from the region and the world.”

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The 34-year-old, who will now reportedly take the Covid-19 vaccine, also promised full disclosure about what happened in Australia.

“Please be patient, in the next seven to 10 days I will address in more detail about everything that happened in Australia,” he said.

Vucic, for his part, praised the Serbia tennis icon for representing the country on the biggest stage.

“I’d never seen such a thing. Someone much bigger than us came along, much more important,” he said.

“I want to say a big thank you for being here today, for always being with our people. This has never happened before, for journalists to stand in three rows, that speaks to what you represent to our people and Serbia. You represent our country on the biggest stage. Thank you for the great fight you put up in Australia.”

Novak Djokovic