‘Not Allowed to Use My Phone’ – Novak Djokovic Says He Was Barely Allowed to Sleep During His Stay in Australia

World No. 1, Novak Djokovic, recently opened up about his Australia deportation saga. The Serbian was deported from Australia on his arrival at Melbourne. Notably, the maestro was there to defend his Australian Open crown. 

In his first interview post the entire controversy, Djokovic, opened up on his time in the detention center. He talked about his hardships during the course of the whole saga. He also claimed that he wasn’t allowed to use his phone.

Novak was deported from Australia, citing his visa status. As per the Australian government rules, any inbound traveler to Australia should be fully vaccinated and should declare their vaccination status to enter Australia. 

Hardships at the detention center

Novak, while speaking to BBC, opened up on the hardships he faced in his quest to play the 2022 Australian Open. When asked about his experience at the detention center, he called it ‘unpleasant’, professing that he felt ‘powerless’.

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He also claimed that he was not allowed to use his phone the night he arrived in Melbourne. “When I arrived, I was not allowed to use my phone for three-four hours.”

Opening further on the issue, Novak said that he didn’t sleep the first night because of continuous questioning. “It was middle of the night from 1 AM to 9 AM. I didn’t get any sleep because I was going through questioning every 30 minutes basically.”

Even though Djokovic suffered deportation from Australia, he did attend a few training sessions in between the case. However, he claimed that these training sessions were completely different from what he would expect before a Grand Slam. He said, “It was not a regular kind of training. Days that I would normally have prior to the Grand Slam competition.”

Elaborating on his practice, Djokovic said, “I had helicopters flying above the every single training session that I had on Rod Laver Arena. Cameras all over the place.”

Novak Djokovic in 2021

While 2022 did not have the most ideal start, 2021 was no ordinary year for Novak. Out of the 5 titles won by Djokovic in 2021, 3 of the titles were Grand Slams. 

The Serbian national won his first Grand Slam title at the 2021 Australian Open. Even though Djokovic played some tough matches through his Melbourne campaign, he left no stone unturned to reach the finals at the Rod Laver Arena. In the finals, he beat 4th seeded Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. 

He then went on to win the 2021 Roland Garros. Unlike the Australian Open, Djokovic faced no difficulty as he cruised through to the semi-finals with dropping just one set. In the semi-finals, he caused the biggest upset of the tournament as he beat the 13-time champion, king of clay, Rafael Nadal. Taking a step forward, he went on to beat the 5th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in 5 sets. 

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The last grand slam of 2021 was the Wimbledon. The top seed faced no difficulty as he reached finals at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club without dropping a set. In the finals, he faced Italian Matteo Berrettini, beating him in 4 sets.