Defiant Djokovic faces deportation from Australia

For several months, it has been doubtful whether world number one tennis star Novak Djokovic would return to Melbourne to defend his Australian Open title, and his hopes looked all but dashed. Upon his arrival to Melbourne airport on Thursday, the Serbian was detained by the authorities.

Djokovic initially attempted to dodge the tournament’s vaccine mandate through a medical exemption form, granting him a visa to play in the tournament; his exemption form was originally accepted by the country, and then taken away in what his mentor describes as a “politically motivated” decision.

Djokovic remains defiant, and we should thank him for that. He has so much to lose from being absent – another Grand Slam victory will take his personal trophy cabinet to the magic 21 figure, surpassing Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, his high achieving rivals.

He may not have much luck playing elsewhere either, particularly the French Open, as President Macron has vowed to “p*** off” the unvaccinated, and New York, the home of the US Open, unlikely to be accepting of unjabbed sports stars given its numerous vaccine mandates.

Unlike so many others, Djokovic has prioritised liberty over fortune and status-quo social media symbolism and he needs all the support and rule-bending he can get.