Tennis player Novak Djokovic has headed to Belgrade from Dubai after getting deported from Australia.
The world number one flew out of Australia on Sunday after his visa was cancelled over COVID-19 entry rules and his unvaccinated status.
RELATED STORY: UAE to bar unvaccinated staff from entry to federal gov’t entities
On the first day of the Australian Open, the world’s best male tennis player was taking selfies with fans at the Dubai airport arrivals gate and instead of warming up for his first scheduled match on centre court at Melbourne Park in front of thousands, Novak Djokovic was 11,600 km away, agreeing to photos with a handful of fellow travellers.
The world number one flew out of Melbourne late on Sunday after the Federal Court upheld a government decision to cancel his visa. This capped days of drama over the country’s Covid-19 entry rules and his unvaccinated status.
The ruling came as a final blow to Djokovic’s hopes of chasing a record 21st Grand Slam win at the Australian Open, which started on Monday.
READ ON: PH gov’t authorizes public, private entities to refuse entry to unvaccinated people
Djokovic was escorted to Melbourne Airport by Australian Border Force officials. They formed a guard around the player in an airport lounge before taking him to the door of the plane.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison left the door open for him to compete at next year’s Australian Open despite an automatic three-year ban from entering the country and noted there was scope for that three-year ban to be waived “in the right circumstances.”
Djokovic, however, did not appear to be in the mood to contemplate a return to Australia.
