Novak Djokovic sparked global controversy in 2022 when he was deported from Australia after forgoing the necessary COVID vaccinations to play in the Australian Open. Now, with three years of hindsight, the Serbian tennis star is reflecting on the moment and speaking honestly about what he believes actually happened.
Djokovic looked back on the lead-up to the event in a new interview with GQ. Prior to landing in Australia, his visa was canceled, though it was reinstated a few days later. "When I won the case, I was free," he says. "I mean 'free' if you call this a freedom. Honestly, I was in a rented house and I was followed by police everywhere I went, and I had the helicopter hovering around the center court where I was training. I was not allowed to access the locker room, [the] main locker room. So they had to find an alternative locker room for me to change and take a shower and get me out of the site. So I was kind of like a fugitive there."
He noted that as an unvaccinated player, he had to quarantine "in kind of a jail room."
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Days later, Djokovic's visa was canceled again and he was deported from the country on "health and good order grounds," according to immigration minister Alex Hawke. Djokovic says he was kicked out for being "a hero" to the anti-vax movement in Australia at the time.
"That’s the actual reason why I was deported from Australia," he stated plainly. "That’s what the three federal judges said in the end. Their sentence is that they are not in a position to question the discretionary right of the [immigration] minister. It was so political. It had nothing really to do with vaccine or COVID or anything else. It’s just political. The politicians could not stand me being there. For them, I think, it was less damage to deport me than to keep me there.
"With my situation in Australia, I was proclaimed to be a villain number one of the world," he continued. “And still even today, 99 percent of the people don’t know why I have been deported from Australia. On what basis? People think that I’ve been deported from Australia because I haven’t taken the vaccine. That I was unvaccinated and I tried to kind of force my way into Australia, which is completely untrue."
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In the end, he confirmed that his views haven't changed since then. "My stance is exactly the same today as it was a few years ago," he said. "I’m not pro-vaccine. I’m not anti-vax. I am pro-freedom to choose what is right for you and your body. So when somebody takes away my right to choose what I should be taking for my body, I don’t think that’s correct."
Djokovic ended up returning to the Australian Open and claiming his 10th title in the tournament the following year.
