Former world number one, Serbian Novak Djokovic, has shared that he still experiences psychological effects from his deportation from Australia in 2022.
He was denied participation in the Australian Open due to lacking a COVID-19 vaccination certificate. According to him, during his recent trips to Australia, he felt a sense of internal tension before going through customs and passport control.
The last couple of times that I landed in Australia, to go through passport control and immigration - I had a bit of trauma from three years ago. And some traces still stay there when I'm passing passport control. The person checking my passport — are they going to take me, detain me again or let me go? I must admit I have that feeling.
Djokovic is 37 years old and has won a record 24 Grand Slam titles and claimed 99 titles in total. He is currently ranked seventh in the world.
It was recently announced that Andy Murray will be Djokovic's coach for the Australian Open 2025. The tennis player described the 2024 season as one of the most unsuccessful in his career.
