It was 2022, still the Covid pandemic, and Australia opened its doors to tennis players to play the Australian Open, provided they were vaccinated. Novak Djokovic has not and remains vaccinated, but he still landed in Melbourne.
But a few hours after his arrival, the relationship broke down: he was locked in a hotel and his visa was revoked, because the Serbian tennis player could not cross this border. The story is known and the reasons as well, but Djokovic tracked them both down in the interview.
He tells:I’m not Novax and I’m not a professional, I’m for freedom of choice. in Australia ? They locked me in a prison. Many people were locked up there and my story made it possible to get to know their stories.
Some of them have been released and this relieves me. One of them is now in America and I will meet him at the US Open. I followed all the rules and never put anyone in danger.
It became a political issue, and I got stuck with ‘no fax’ and it still hurts.”
Novak after defeating Dimitrov
Novak Djokovic is gradually getting back to his best form and he showed it in Rome.
The Serbian tennis player won three sets after a fierce battle, before easily closing the third set against Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov. During the press conference, Noll looked very satisfied and discussed several topics, including attacking the tournament clay courts.
Here are Noel’s words:It was a good challenge and I was happy to take part. Taking on Grigor is always a good challenge, we are talking about one of the best tennis players on the circuit, he has been that way for many years now.
At the end of the second set he raised his level and showed his level, I had the possibility to close the match but I didn’t. However, I’m glad I found the right continuity in the third set and have everything under control.
Mud adaptation? We’re talking about a surface where the more you play, the better you’ll feel. Obviously, I would like to get to the final here, objectively, that’s what I came for.
My program differs from the program of previous years, it is clearly a different tournament than the one in the past, but it is positive because there are more margins of comfort.
I’m getting close to the best possible level, obviously we can do better, but today I had fun. ” Meanwhile, the Serb managed to advance to the quarter-finals by defeating Cameron Norrie.
