The crowd was waiting for him at Belgrade airport: Novak Djokovic landed in Serbia on Monday noon. The Serb, expelled from Australia on Sunday, had stopped over in Dubai a few hours earlier. But he immediately left the infrastructure through a back door.
“There’s no need to wait, he’s already come out through another door,” a security employee told the many journalists present. Another staff member explained to AFP that the star left by “a technical exit”. Dozens of fans gathered outside the airport to welcome their idol, enthusiastically waving Serbian flags.
“Novak is number one for us and for the world. Whether he wins or loses, we support him,” Djurdja Avramov, whose son wore a T-shirt with a heart design and the word “Nole,” Djokovic’s nickname in Serbia, told AFP. “I’m a fan and what they did to her is shameful,” added Dragica, a retiree who didn’t want to give her last name. “I love it, I’m 71 and my feet hurt but I came anyway. »
The 34-year-old champion left Melbourne with his coaches on Sunday evening after Australia’s Federal Court upheld the government’s decision to overturn his visa, ending eleven days of drama over the country’s entry rules , while the champion refuses to be vaccinated against the Covid. He disembarked from the plane, masked and carrying two bags, after landing at Dubai International Airport at 5:32 a.m. local time (2:32 a.m. French time), an hour and a half after the launch of the first Grand Slam tournament of the season. Defending champion, Djoko hoped to clinch his 10th victory there, as well as a record 21st Grand Slam title.
Novak Djokovic was to be the headliner for day one of the Australian Open. It was the Greek Maria Sakkari who started the hostilities on the Rod Laver court where she was succeeded by the defending champion Naomi Osaka, then Rafael Nadal. The main court was to welcome Alexander Zverev at the end of the program, whose match was rescheduled to replace that of Novak Djokovic.
“I am extremely disappointed,” Djokovic reacted in a statement on Sunday. “I’m uncomfortable that the attention of the last few weeks has been on me and I hope we can all now focus on the game and the tournament that I love,” Djokovic said. in a statement before flying out of Melbourne. “I will now take time to rest and recover,” said the player, whose career, at least in Australia, could suffer heavily from this affair.
Scott Morrison opens door to return before three years
“This decision to cancel has been taken for reasons of health, safety and good order, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so,” Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the radio. early Monday morning. Under immigration law, Djokovic cannot be granted another visa for three years unless Australia’s immigration minister acknowledges compelling or compassionate reasons.
VIDEO. “A great Australian Open with or without Djokovic”: Nadal and the others want to move on
“I am not going to set any preconditions or say anything that would not allow the minister to take the various decisions he has to take,” assured the head of government on 2GB radio on Monday, “it is of a three-year period, but there is the possibility for (a person) to return under the right circumstances, and it will be considered at that time”.
Djokovic was escorted by airline staff on a buggy from the terminal to the gate for a flight a few hours later to Belgrade, where he checked in on his own.
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