Novak Djokovic has awkwardly refused to answer pre-tournament questions over his claim he was “poisoned” during his deportation saga at the 2022 Australian Open.
The Serbian superstar made the allegation in a GQ magazine article published just before his latest attempt to win a record 25th Grand Slam singles title.
His friend Nick Kyrgios today claimed that Djokovic was treated like “s***” when he was booted out of Australia after arriving without a Covid vaccine.
Speaking in Melbourne Park today, Djokovic answered six questions on other matters – including two on his new coach Andy Murray – before the ATP invigilator tried to stop his press conference.
An Aussie reporter demanded to know if the 10-time Australian Open champion had any proof that the “very high level of lead and mercury” in his blood was due to food eaten during his five-night stay at a Melbournne detention centre.
Djokovic agreed to answer but said: “Look, the GQ article came out online yesterday. I think it’s a February issue, so it’s coming out in print version.
“I’ve done that interview many months ago. I would appreciate not talking more in detail about that, as I would like to focus on the tennis and why I’m here.
“If you want to see what I’ve said and get more info on that, you can always revert to the article.”
Djokovic told GQ: “I realised that in that hotel in Melbourne, I was fed with some food that poisoned me.
“I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I was, I had a really high level of heavy metal. Heavy metal. I had the lead, very high level of lead and mercury.”
Asked by GQ if he knew the substances entered his body via the food in Melbourne, Djokovic said: “That’s the only way.”
The Serb also claimed that he had become “a hero” for anti-vax opinion in Australia. “That’s the actual reason why I was deported from Australia,” he said. “It was so political. It had nothing really to do with vaccine or COVID-19 or anything else. It’s just political.
“The politicians could not stand me being there. For them, I think, it was less damage to deport me than to keep me there.”
Kyrgios and Djokovic buried the hatchet in a long-running feud when the Aussie backed the Serb after his visa was cancelled.
Asked if he had spoken the No.7 seed’s claims in GQ, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist said: “No, I haven’t spoken to him. I didn’t even know that. I’ll stand on. We treated him like s***, that’s for sure. We shouldn’t have done that.”
