Novak Djokovic has declined to elaborate on his recent claim that he was “poisoned” during his controversial deportation saga in Australia ahead of the 2022 Australian Open. The Serbian tennis legend had mentioned in an interview with the GQ magazine that he had suffered from elevated levels of lead and mercury in his blood, which he believes was caused by food he consumed during his detention in Melbourne.
However, when asked about it during a press conference at the Australian Open this year, Djokovic made it clear that he was no longer willing to discuss the matter in detail.
“The GQ article came out online yesterday. I think it’s a February issue, so it’s coming out in print version,” Djokovic said. “I’ve done that interview many months ago. I would appreciate not talking more in detail about that, as I would like to focus on the tennis and why I’m here. If you want to see what I’ve said and get more info on that, you can always refer to the article.”
Djokovic proceeded to walk out of the press conference without taking further questions.
In the GQ interview, Djokovic revealed his suspicions about the cause of his health scare. “I realised that in that hotel in Melbourne, I was fed with some food that poisoned me. I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I was, I had a really high level of heavy metal. Heavy metal. I had the lead, very high level of lead and mercury,” he stated.
When pressed about whether he believed the substances entered his system through the food in Melbourne, Djokovic was firm in his response: “That’s the only way.”
Kyrgios backs Djokovic
In his GQ article, Djokovic also discussed the political nature of his deportation from Australia, emphasizing that the situation was more about politics than any health or vaccine concerns. “
The politicians could not stand me being there. For them, I think, it was less damage to deport me than to keep me there,” he explained. “It was so political. It had nothing really to do with vaccine or Covid-19 or anything else. It’s just political.”
Despite the controversy surrounding his deportation, Djokovic received support from fellow tennis stars, including Nick Kyrgios.
Kyrgios, who had previously been critical of the treatment Djokovic received in Australia, commented, “We treated him like s***, that’s for sure. We shouldn’t have done that.”
For now, Djokovic has made it clear that his focus is firmly on his pursuit of a record 25th Grand Slam singles title, and he would prefer to leave the past behind.
