Djokovic must forgive and forget his shoddy Covid experience in Australia

Another Australian Open tennis tournament, another Novak Djokovic media sensation. As play gets under way at Melbourne Park, Djokovic the showman has been working the Australian media, as well as doing a glossy spread for the upmarket US magazine, GQ. The common thread of his media commentary is his experience coming to the 2022 Australian Open when, as the Covid-19 pandemic still raged, the unvaccinated Djokovic was detained and deported after seeking to enter Melbourne, the city oppressed by arguably the most draconian lockdown and vaccination mandates in the world, let alone Australia.

Having initially been given an exemption to enter Victoria by the state’s government, Djokovic was stopped on arrival by the Australian Border Force; until he won a legal challenge in the Federal Court of Australia, he was detained in a Melbourne hotel converted into a detention facility for illegal arrivals.