Novak Djokovic refused to give an explanation over his claims he was ‘fed some food that poisoned’ him while he was detained at a Melbourne hotel ahead of the 2022 Australian Open.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was deported from Australia back in 2022 after losing a legal battle regarding his vaccine status.
Djokovic had his visa cancelled when he arrived in the country without a valid exemption and he was detained in a hotel for five days.
The decision to cancel his visa was overturned before former immigration minister, Alex Hawke, reversed the decision once again with Djokovic forced to leave the country.
Novak Djokovic has claimed he was poisoned while in the Melbourne hotel
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The Serbian tennis icon has now reopened the controversial saga by claiming he had been ‘poisoned’ during his time in the hotel.
“I had some health issues. And I realised that in that hotel in Melbourne I was fed some food that poisoned me,” Djokovic said in an interview with GQ.
“I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I was – I had a really high level of heavy metal.
“Heavy metal. I had the lead, a very high level of lead and mercury.”
The Australian Border Force have not responded to the accusations from Djokovic as of yet.
The interview was released just before Djokovic’s pre-tournament press conference on Friday, where he faced heated questions about his claims by local media.
According to journalists present, Australian Open tournament officials attempted to shut down questions regarding Djokovic’s GQ interview.
The 37-year-old stepped in to give a response, but refused to give any more details.
Novak Djokovic was denied entry to Australia due to his vaccine statusReuters
“Look, the GQ article came out online yesterday. I think it’s a February issue, so it’s coming out in print version,” said Djokovic. The magazine is due on newsstands on 28 January.
“I’ve done that interview many months ago. I would appreciate not talking more in detail about that, as I would like to focus on the tennis and why I’m here.
“If you want to see what I’ve said and get more info on that, you can always revert to the article.”
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Just as Djokovic was about to leave, another reporter is said to have shouted from the back of the room but they were ignored.
Nick Kyrgios jumped to the defence of Djokovic after learning of his close friend’s claims.
“No, I haven’t spoken to him on it, I didn’t know that,” he said.
“We treated him like s**t, that’s for sure. We shouldn’t have done that.”