Serbian tennis players have passionately expressed their support for Novak Djokovic, with his deportation from Australia described as "terribly wrong".
Djokovic left Australia on Sunday night after the Federal Court upheld a decision by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to cancel his visa.
It cost the men's world number one the chance of winning his 10th Australian Open title and fourth in a row.
Djokovic's Davis Cup teammate Dusan Lajovic said Djokovic should not have been deported from Australia.
"I think the way they treated him was terribly wrong," Lajovic told an Australian Open media conference.
"I don't think it's the right way."
Fellow Serbian Laslo Djere said he could not understand why Djokovic was deported after being granted a medical exemption to contest the Australian Open.
"I think the whole world saw it and they probably will have a new or different opinion about Australia," he said.
"I mean, the guy had the exemption and they still deported him.
"I don't know the details, so I also don't want to be too harsh. He's not vaccinated, but we were told that we can enter the country with an exemption, which he had, and yet he's not here with us. Something went horribly wrong.
"It was a catastrophic situation. I don't know what else to say."
Another Serbian, Miomir Kecmanovic, was scheduled to play Djokovic in the first round.
Instead, he faced Djokovic's replacement in the main draw, "lucky loser" Salvatore Caruso of Italy.
Kecmanovic defeated Caruso in straight sets on Monday, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.
"We said that we're going to give everything we have, to try to avenge him in a way, and make him proud," Kecmanovic said.
" I know he's our best representative, so it's definitely a shame that he's not able to participate and represent Serbia.
"But we're going to give the best that we can and hopefully we can make up for it in some way."
Kecmanovic said he felt Djokovic had been unfairly treated.
"I think it wasn't handled well and things could have gone so much smoother and better for everybody," he said.
"It's definitely terrible that they had to kick him out like that."
Djokovic support 'was big'
Lajovic said he believed players from outside Serbia also supported Djokovic.
"I think that there was a lot of support," he said.
"When I talk to the guys, we talk in the locker rooms and all around the tournament, and from my point of view, the support was big."
Djere said he expected Djokovic to "come back stronger" following his forced departure from Australia.
"That's also in our Serbian mentality," he said.
Both Lajovic and Djere contested their first-round matches at the Australian Open on Monday.
Lajovic defeated Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in five sets, while Djere lost in four to Canadian 14th seed Denis Shapovalov.
