Boris Becker says there are “no winners” in Novak Djokovic’s deportation from Australia but the world No 1 has paid the “highest price”.
Djokovic initially travelled to the country after being given a medical exemption to compete at the Australian Open but was detained by Border Force officials who said he didn’t have sufficient evidence of the exemption and his visa was cancelled.
Djokovic did win an appeal to stay in Australia but immigration minister Alex Hawke revoked his visa again and the player lost another battle in court which resulted in him being deported.
“I always had a bad feeling about this. Any government is bigger than any individual,” Becker told Eurosport. “I was a bit surprised that the court ruled in his favour on Monday of last week, but obviously the government had the last word.
“I don’t think there are any winners. Djokovic obviously pays the highest price, but Tennis Australia did not look good, the Victorian government did not look good, the country of Australia did not look good.
“It is something I find sad to say because it has been one of the most hospitable countries for so long, so I’m a little bit confused about what is going on there.
“But ultimately, there are very strict vaccination rules and they have made the difference.”
Djokovic was hoping to defend his title and win a record 21st grand slam title but the achievement instead could be claimed by Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard won his opening match at the tournament against Marcos Giron in straight sets.
Nadal refused to speak badly of his colleague when asked about his deportation, saying: “I think the situation has been a mess. He’s not the only one that did probably the things bad in that case.
“So on a personal level, yes, I would like to see him playing here. If it’s fair or not that he’s playing here is another discussion that I don’t want to talk anymore about that.”
