Novak Djokovic lands in Dubai, then takes flight to native Serbia after deportation from Australia

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The deportation appeal of the man was lost in Australia.

Novak was deported after losing his appeal, so he won't be able to compete in the Australian Open. 1:06

8:42 PM

The No. 1-ranked tennis player in the world was deported from Australia after he failed to get a vaccine for the disease.

A plane carrying him from Australia to the Serbian capital of Belgrade was able to land in the Middle East. His lawyers had argued in an Australian court on Sunday that he should be allowed to stay in the country and compete in the tournament under a medical exemption due to a coronavirus infection.

The Serbian has won nine Australian Open titles, three in a row, and a total of 20 Grand Slam singles trophies, tying him with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most in the history of men's tennis. The only men's champion in the tournament that began Monday was Nadal, who is recovering from an injury. He won his match in straight sets.

A border official canceled his visa because he didn't qualify for a medical exemption from Australia's rules for unvaccinated visitors. He was exempt from the tournament's vaccine rules because he had been exposed to the virus.

Australia's immigration minister revoked his visa after he won an appeal to stay for the tournament. The judges of the Federal Court decided unanimously that the immigration minister's right to cancel the visa of Novak Djokovic was valid.

Everyone at the Australian Open was required to have a vaccine, even players, their coaches, and anyone at the tournament site. Most of the top 100 men and women are vaccine free. The vaccine requirement forced at least two men to skip the first major tournament of the year.

In Australia, strict restrictions on international travel have been put in place to try to control the spread of the coronaviruses since the beginning of the epidemic.

The court hearing in Australia was a farce with a lot of lies, according to the president of Serbia.

They humiliated themselves after 10 days of harassment, and they think they humiliated Novak. Novak would not come or be vaccine free if you said that the one who was not vaccine free had no right to enter.