The trials and tribulations of Novak Djokovic in Australia continue to be surreal.
Djokovic has been in custody as the country’s authorities have overridden a medical exemption to the vaccine mandate granted to him by the Australian Open, as his lawyers appeal. His mother, Dijana, compared him to a prisoner.
“I feel terrible since yesterday that they are keeping him as a prisoner. It’s not fair. It’s not human. I hope that he will win,” she told the Associated Press after speaking with him briefly by telephone from Belgrade.
“Terrible, terrible accommodation. It’s just some small immigration hotel, if it’s [a] hotel at all.”
The Melbourne Park “Hotel” where Djokovic has been residing came under international criticism as a disease “incubator” months before his stay there.
An article published in the Guardian in October described a scene where refugees and asylum seekers who had to stay there shared a common kitchen area. Windows in the building were sealed shut, meaning the air recirculated. Over 20 people — nearly half of the guests there in late October — contracted COVID-19.
“Everybody is very tired, everyone is very angry,” Iraqi refugee Salah Mustafa told the outlet. “We are feeling like animals, like we are in a cage. They [the Australian government] are mocking us … they don’t care.”
Australia has had notoriously strict COVID-19 restrictions from everything to masks to lockdowns to vaccine mandates throughout the pandemic.
Djokovic has repeatedly declined to disclose whether he is vaccinated for COVID-19.
The stakes are high for Djokovic if he must miss the Australian Open. He has won the tournament nine times, including the last three years. He is currently tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for most major victories of all-time, with 20.
