Novak Djokovic was “subjected to torture” while fighting deportation from Australia, his mother Dijana Djokovic has claimed.
The Serbian succeeded in an appeal to quash an order for deportation from Australia over his exemption for Covid vaccination.
And at a family press conference following his release to Australia, Dijana claimed her son has suffered greatly but also secured the greatest victory of his career over all 20 Grand Slam titles.
“Thank you for coming. We’re here to celebrate our son Novak, a boy who in his family learned not to put up with lies and cheating,” she said. “He always fought for justice. He’s done nothing wrong, he hasn’t broken any of their laws and he was subjected to torture, to harassment.
“He fought against that system and the government because he thought he had the right to be there and he went there to win the tournament.
“This was extremely difficult and these six days we have tried to fight for him, to make sure the voice is heard around the world. There’s been a spectrum emotions: sadness, fear, disappointment, there have been moments when he didn’t have his phone with him.
“There are moments we didn’t know if he was OK, if he’d eaten, if he was safe. Those are the moments I will not get over quickly, I think every mother in the world will understand me.
“We all fought to show justice has been done. Thank God there is still justice in this world. I think this is his biggest win in his career, bigger than any Grand Slams.”
Djokovic has also resumed training for the Australian Open 202, his brother Djordje Djokovic confirmed, after travelling from the suburbs of Melbourne to the city after being released from his immigration facility.
He said: “Novak has trained, he was on the tennis court, he went to Australia to play tennis. To try and win another Australian Open and win a record that he's been chasing for many years, he had all the documents required of him, he got a medical exemption to travel to Australia.”
While his father Srđan Đoković added: “He's mentally extremely strong, a fantastic young man who never offended anybody, he always tries to help and not harm.”
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