Djoko insists he was “poisoned” during immigration detention

Novak Djokovic says he holds no ill will against Australia after claiming he was “poisoned” during his 2022 Covid-era detention for trying to enter the country without a vaccination jab.

The world No. 1 was eventually deported from Melbourne, missing the Open. But the 37-year-old Serb told GQ that being held in a basic hotel revealed a sinister twist..

“I had some health issues. And I realised that in that hotel in Melbourne I was fed some food that poisoned me,” the 24-time grand Slam winner said as he prepares for a possible record 11th trophy in Melbourne with pay starting on Sunday.

“I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I had a really high level of heavy metal.

“I had lead, a very high level of lead and mercury.”

He added: “That’s the only way”  his food could have been tampered with.

The sting came out of the incident a year later, when the state of Victoria  loosened its world-record strict Covid protocols, with Djokovic claiming the trophy again in 2023.

He now says no hard feelings.

“A lot of Australian people that I meet in Australia the last few years or elsewhere in the world, have come up to me, apologising to me for the treatment I received because they were embarrassed by their own government at that point,” he said.

“And I think the government’s changed, and they reinstated my visa, and I was very grateful for that.

“I actually love being there, and I think my results are a testament to my sensation of playing tennis and just being in that country.”