On the eve of the start of the Australian Open, tennis maestro Novak Djokovic on Monday lost his battle against deportation from Australia. This happened after a federal court decided to reject his appeal against the government's decision to deport him from the country. The verdict also quashed Djokovic's chances of defending his Australian Open title and win a record 21st Grand Slam in front of the Melbourne crowd at the Rod Laver Arena. The announcement, however, received mixed reactions from netizens across the globe. While some sympathised with the world number one tennis player, some said that the court made the right choice by rejecting Djokovic's appeal.
The Serbian tennis star was also spotted by reporters in Melbourne' Tullamarine airport, departing for Dubai.
Here's how Twitter reacted to Novak Djokovic losing his battle against deportation from Australia:
"Novak Djokovic has more integrity, conviction and courage than every politician in Australia who had to poll their next move. He's a champion on and off the court," an Australian journalist wrote on Twitter.
"I know too little to judge the situation. What I know is that Novak is always the first one to stand for the players. But none of us stood for him. Be strong @djokernole," French tennis player Alize Cornet tweeted.
"Novak would never have gone to Australia if he had not been given an exemption to enter the country by the government (which he did receive; hence Judge Kelly's initial ruling). He would have skipped the Australian Open and been home with his family and no one would be," Canadian tennis star Vasek Pospisil wrote in a Twitter thread.
"Who else feels ZERO sympathy for Novak Djokovic?" a user tweeted.
"Let me say this, if Naomi Osaka, or Serena Williams acted in the way Novak Djokovic has acted in the past couple weeks- the tennis association would be sharpening their knives. They hung Osaka out to dry because she missed a couple pressers, meanwhile on Djokovic...(crickets)," another user wrote.
"Novak Djokovic is the first player to be knocked out of a grand slam tournament after missing only 2 shots," a user tweeted.
"Whoever wins Australian Open 2022 will be just the Number Two. Novak Djokovic is always The World Number One Tennis Player," another fan tweeted.
After months of speculations, Djokovic earlier this month announced that he will arrive in Australia to play the first Grand Slam of the year, saying that he has received a medical exemption.
But, on his arrival in Melbourne, he was kept at the airport for eight hours, before the Australian government cancelled his visa.
However, his visa was re-instated by a federal court judge Anthony Kelly after he and his lawyers had decided to appeal against the decision made by the Australian government.
Kelly had also asked the government to release Djokovic from quarantine in Melbourne.
But there's was a final twist in the tale as the Australian government cancelled his visa for the second time on Friday, earlier this week.