On January 9, the Australian Open men’s and women’s singles draw will be revealed, and all eyes will once again be on Novak Djokovic, who courted controversy in the country during the Covid-19 pandemic. Three years ago, he was detained when he arrived in Melbourne for the Grand Slam event, as he didn’t meet the requirements for vaccination to enter the country at that time.

In 2022, Djokovic had two stints in a quarantine hotel and then was deported. Since then, he has even won the Australian Open. Speaking to the Herald Sun, Djokovic reveals that he was still traumatised from that incident.

He said, “I have (some trauma) to be quite frank,” he said.

“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, just checking out if someone from immigration zone is approaching. 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.”

Revealing how he silenced his critics, he said, “I came like right away the year after in 2023… and I won the Australian Open – it was my 22nd Slam. My parents and whole team were there, and it was actually one of the most emotional wins that I’ve ever had considering all that I’d been through the year before,” he added.

Djokovic had his first Slam-less campaign in the last season, in seven years. He recently added former player Andy Murray to his coaching staff, and he will be joining Djokovic in the upcoming Grand Slam event.

If Djokovic fails to reach the semis, he could fall out of the top-10 for the first time since 2019. He is a record 10-time Australian Open champion, and his main opponents will be Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.