The drama about Novak Djokovic ended with a bang at dawn. After a sleepless night in custody at Melbourne Airport, Serbia's superstar was officially notified that Australia had refused his visa and deported him. Instead of serving with a special permit for unvaccinated people at the Australian Open, the number one in the world rankings is to be flown out on Thursday local time.

The Australian Border Force stated in a quatrain that "Mr Djokovic did not meet the entry requirements and his visa was then canceled". Non-citizens who do not have a valid visa upon entry or whose visa has been canceled "will be detained and expelled from Australia," the statement said. Goodbye title defense! Allegedly there is still an objection from the lawyers.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended the entry refusal. "Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our limits," wrote Morrison on Twitter. "Nobody is above the law."

Djokovic's father, on the other hand, was deeply indignant. "It's shameful. Deportation," Srdjan Djokovic told the Serbian newspaper Blic. "I can't talk to my son, they portray him as a criminal. I have no words for everything they did to him."

Djokovic receives support from the president

From late evening local time, Novak Djokovic was stuck, and even Serbia's president personally stood up for him in the end. "I had a phone conversation with Novak and told him that all of Serbia was with him," wrote Aleksandar Vucic on Instagram. "Our authorities will take all measures to stop the harassment of the best tennis player in the world in the shortest possible time." This too: in vain.

Before Djokovic had even set foot on the fifth continent, he was met with sheer anger. "Sick hypocrisy", a "resounding slap in the face" and an "insult to every Australian" - the media outcry over the special permit was enormous.

As reported by The Age newspaper, Djokovic tried to enter on a visa that does not allow medical exemptions for unvaccinated people. But with exactly such a permit, he wanted to go on the hunt for records at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year from January 17th. The Victoria state government declined to provide assistance in resolving the problem.

Prime Minister Morrison had therefore previously publicly expressed doubts about the basis for the medical exemption. "If this evidence is not enough, then he will be treated no differently from everyone else and will be on the next plane home," said the head of government at a press conference. That’s how it will turn out.

With this, Morrison spoke from the soul of his compatriots, who had to accept immense hardships even for locals during the corona pandemic due to numerous strict lockdowns and strict entry regulations. "For Novak Djokovic there should be no special regulations at all. None at all," said Morrison - he also brought tournament director Craig Tiley into an explanation problem.

"Nobody was particularly favored, there was no special treatment for Novak," defended Tiley. Ultimately, two medical expert panels independent of the state of Victoria and Tennis Australia, unaware of the names, granted special approval for the start. Only fully vaccinated professionals are allowed to compete in Melbourne without an exception.

Djokovic keeps vaccination status a secret

The criteria for a special permit are extremely strict, so that actually only seriously ill people are exempted from the compulsory vaccination - for example because of heart problems or serious operations in the recent past. A corona infection in the past six months also entitles you to a medical exemption. Djokovic is only known to have one infection from summer 2020. The 34-year-old has never published his vaccination status.

The lack of understanding in the Australian population was huge, a look at the gazettes gave a good picture of the mood. "Rules are rules - unless you're rich and famous like Djokovic," wrote The Age. The Canberra Times described the feelings of the Australians drastically: "Horrified, maybe. Angry, yes. Frustrated, disappointed, disgusted, with the feeling that we have all just received a resounding slap."

The West Australian credited Djokovic with a cinematic role. "The Djoker," commented the paper, "has turned into the Joker and shamelessly assigned himself the role of the villain." A villain who won't come to the Open at all.

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