Novak Djokovic says he felt 'powerless' in Australian detention before being deported

Novak Djokovic has described what it was like being detained by Australian border control before being deported earlier this year.

In previously unreleased footage from an exclusive interview with the BBC, Djokovic said he felt powerless throughout the process, as his visa was revoked, then reinstated, then revoked again.

«It definitely wasn't pleasant,» Djokovic said. 

«I don't want to be sat here and complaining about conditions in that detention centre because I stayed seven days.

»Yes I did feel powerless. When I arrived I was not allowed to use my phone for three, four hours. It was the middle of the night from 1am to 9am. I didn't get any sleep because I was going through questioning every 30 minutes basically.

«I had many, many interviews. They started, and then stopped, and then paused, and then I would wait for the person to speak to his superiors and then he would come back and it went on for the entire night.»

Djokovic was eventually allowed out to train ahead of what he hoped would be a bid to become the greatest men's tennis player in history, before Immigration Minister Alex Hawke used discretionary power to deport the Serbian.

«The visa was reinstated, first revoked, then reinstated, then revoked again, so I was free for four days and I was training, but it was not a regular kind of training,» Djokovic said.

«Days that I would normally have prior to the grand slam competition had helicopters flying above every single training I had at Rod Laver Arena. Cameras all over the place.»

The 34-year-old also said he felt 'hurt' by the way other tennis players and staff were looking at him throughout the process.

Djokovic —who yesterday revealed he was unvaccinated and would continue to sit out tournaments that had vaccine