Novak Djokovic took a moment to show his appreciation to the Melbourne crowd who gave him a warm reception at Melbourne Park. On Friday, Djokovic played Nick Kyrgios in an exhibition match at Rod Laver Arena. 12 months ago, Djokovic was deported from Australia and denied participation in the Australian Open.
Although Djokovic was beaten by Kyrgios in an exhibition match, he admitted that receiving a warm welcome meant a lot to him. “Thank you very much, I’m feeling a bit emotional right now to be honest. I really wanted to get back on this court, so thank you all for coming out tonight for a great cause.
It feels great to be back in Australia and in Melbourne. It is the court where I created the best memories of my tennis career,» Djokovic said.
Djokovic blamed the media for portraying him in a bad light
Before the start of the 2022 season, Djokovic applied for a special medical exemption to compete at the Australian Open.
After he was awarded one, he flew to Australia. But then all the chaos happened and Djokovic ended up getting deported from Australia. A few days ago, Djokovic criticized the media for suggesting 12 months ago that he tried to break the rules.
“I understood why they were frustrated, but I have to say that the media presented it in a completely wrong way because that’s not what happened, and a lot of people still have the wrong idea of what happened. There were two or three other people who arrived in Australia 10 days before me on the exact same exemption that I had and I was just following the rules.
My waiver was verified by an independent body and a panel of doctors, so it was not known who was making the request, and I arrived with all the valid papers. It all got out of hand and then I was labeled as this or that.
It was so big in the media that I just couldn’t fight it, I didn’t even want to get into it. Obviously I wanted to stay here and play tennis, but at some point with the amount of craziness going on, I just wanted to get out and go home,» Djokovic told 9News Melbourne.
