Bratislava – According to his coach, the expulsion from Australia has taken a heavy mental toll on Serbian tennis pro Novak Djokovic.
The world number one was “certainly hit hard psychologically. It will hurt him for a long time and it will be hard for him to get it out of his head,” said Marian Vajda from Slovakia in an interview with the Slovakian newspaper “Sport”. But he knows the 20-time Grand Slam tournament winner “well enough to know: Novak is strong, unshakeable and he has not yet spoken his last word in tennis,” Vajda stressed.
He sharply criticised the Australian government and international media. He called the decision against the 34-year-old Djokovic a “political process”. He said the situation in Australia was “totally sick and unjust, a direct result of the country’s long isolation. Australia is now paying the price for its policy of isolation and has such high infection figures despite its strict vaccination policy. But above all, it was the media that swayed public opinion so negatively against Novak. “
The Slovakian has been coaching Djokovic since 2006, with a brief interruption, and alternates in tournament coaching with Goran Ivanisevic. That is why Vajda was not present in Melbourne. Asked about his first feelings when he received the news of Djokovic’s expulsion, Vajda replied: “Shock, pain, big emotion. I don’t know how I would have stood it psychologically if I had been there myself. Even back home in Bratislava I couldn’t sleep from bewilderment that such a thing was possible.”
Djokovic, who had not been vaccinated against the corona virus, had had to leave Australia because he had failed in his appeal against the cancellation of his visa in the Federal Court. He had travelled to Australia because he wanted to participate in the Australian Open with a medical exemption. However, upon entry, his visa was cancelled.