Novak Djokovic heads home in Serbia after Australia deportation

Number one tennis star Novak Djokovic headed home on Monday after Australia deported him over his Covid-19 vaccination status while the Australian Open went underway without him.

Djokovic left Australia on Sunday after losing his court bid to stay in the country. The Serbian tennis player has d a brief stop at Dubai.

Djokovic was scheduled to arrive on a flight from Dubai about midday (1100 GMT) on Monday, according to two employees at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport.

However, there was no official confirmation that the defending Australian Open champion was on his way to Belgrade, Serbia, where a part of his family lives.

The dramatic deportation came after a protracted, high-stakes court struggle between Djokovic, 34, and Australian authorities, which polarised opinion and tainted both parties’ reputations.

On Sunday night, the message “Nole you are the pride of Serbia” flashed from an LED-panel sign on a building along the Sava River in downtown Belgrade, using the popular nickname for the player in his home country.

In Serbia, Djokovic is expected to be hailed as a hero, with the catastrophe in Melbourne just adding to his reputation as a fighter who dared to defy the establishment.

Djokovic expressed his disappointment ahead of his deportation from Australia after a Federal Court unanimously confirmed the termination of his visa on public order grounds.

He now faces a possible three-year suspension from Australia, where he won nine of his 20 Grand Slam trophies, tying Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

“There was a very obvious message given,” said Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is dealing with record coronavirus levels.

However, he intimated that Djokovic may return in three years “under the proper circumstances.”

“It (the ban) does go over a three-year period, but there is the opportunity for them to return in the right circumstances and that would be considered at the time,” Morrison said in a radio interview.

Legal Drama

Djokovic, backed by a retinue of coaches and aides, boarded an Emirates flight from Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport and landed in Dubai before daybreak on Monday. He was spotted in the airport’s transit area.

The Australian government has revoked Djokovic’s visa twice in the previous 11 days, claiming that his presence could feed anti-vaccine sentiment in the wake of a wave of cases of the Omicron variant.

Djokovic won the first trial while fighting in the court for the decision, but lost Sunday’s final decision in Australia’s Federal Court, ending a week of legal drama.

“I hope that we can all now focus on the game and tournament I love,” Djokovic said, acknowledging the game was up.

The debate appears sure to continue, with Djokovic’s reputation severely harmed and Australia’s burgeoning reputation for animosity toward outsiders bolstered.

Morrison, who is up for reelection this year, is unlikely to face widespread public outrage over the affair, even among those who disagree with his severe immigration policy.

Many Australians feel Djokovic tried to avoid vaccine entrance rules and are relieved to see him go after suffering protracted lockdowns and border restrictions that effectively separated family and loved ones.

“I think they did the right thing asking him to leave. If he was still here it would be all Djokovic. But the tournament is about so much more than him,” one tennis fan, Simon Overton, told AFP as the Australian Open got underway in Melbourne Park.

But others, including Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, condemned the Australian decision to deport Djokovic.

“They think that they have by this, this mistreatment of 10 days, humiliated Djokovic, but they have humiliated themselves,” Vucic said.

Read more: Djokovic admits ‘errors’ as he fights to avoid Australian deportation

A mess

Back in Australia, Rafael Nadal — who in Djokovic’s absence from the Open could become the first man to win 21 Grand Slam titles — said “justice had spoken” but that the Serb was not the only one to blame for the “mess” that overshadowed the Australian Open.

“Almost one week ago when he won in the first instance… he was able to get back his visa and was practicing. I said the justice has spoken,” Nadal said after cruising into the tournament’s second round.

“Yesterday the justice said another thing. I will never be against what the justice says.”

Djokovic’s chances of playing in the next Grand Slam tournament, the French Open, were thrown into doubt Monday when government sources told AFP that any athlete who wished to compete in France will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

The move appears to contradict what Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said last week when she stated that certain events like the French Open had a special exemption from coronavirus rules.