French Open 2022: I hold no grudges and want to play in Australia again, says Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic said on Friday he would like to return to play in Australia again despite being deported from the country earlier this year due to not having a COVID-19 vaccination. The 20-time Grand Slam winner was unable to defend his Australian Open title in January after being deported amid a media frenzy after being initially admitted to the tournament despite not being vaccinated. "I don't know anything about whether my visa is going to be reinstated or whether I'm going to be allowed to come back to Australia.

I would like to. I would like to go there and play the Australian Open," he told a news conference. "I don't hold any grudges.

Look, you know, it was what it was. If I have an opportunity to go back to Australia and play a place where I made the biggest success in my career on Grand Slam, I would love to come back." Djokovic, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, was flown out of Australia after an 11-day ordeal at the discretion of the country's immigration minister over concerns the tennis great could fuel anti-vax sentiment. Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister at the time, has lost elections since and Australia's Labor Party leader, Anthony Albanese, was sworn in as the country's 31st prime minister earlier this month.

Djokovic had spent some days in an immigration detention centre in Melbourne and had met refugees who had been there for years. Some have since been released. "If that's correct, then I'm obviously very happy about it, because I know that it was very difficult for them, particularly for the ones that stayed there for nine years," Djokovic said.