Former world No 1 Novak Djokovic admitted that the aftermath of the Australia visa debacle was something he had never experienced before as there was “a tremendous amount of pressure” placed on him and his family.
Djokovic, 35, experienced one of the most challenging periods of his life and career at the start of this year, when he was detained in Australia and ultimately deported from the country. During the Australia visa saga, the Djokovic family was furious as his family members ripped the Australian authorities for treating the 21-time Grand Slam champion “like a criminal.”
“Months after Australia I was really emotionally challenged. All the stuff that was happening off the court, people’s pressures on me and my family has been tremendous. I have never experienced something like this in my career and my life, and it was very unusual.
I tried to deal with it in the best possible way,” Djokovic said on Tennis Channel, per Sportskeeda.
Djokovic: It took me time to overcome the Australia saga
When Djokovic returned to Serbia, he was trying to convince himself that what happened was behind him.
But the reality was different. “When I came back to Europe from Australia, I thought it was behind me and I’ll move on, but it really wasn’t ended there. It just kept going for months and months, people would ask me about it all the time.
You can hear people in the stands or in the city mentioning those things,” Djokovic admitted. But since winning Wimbledon, Djokovic is at peace and he feels that the Australia visa debacle is now fully behind him. “It was tough but it is behind me now.
I feel like in the last 4 months, I’ve been truly myself on the court. Wimbledon was such an important milestone and tournament for me. Wimbledon came at the best possible time. For me to win Wimbledon was a huge relief in a way,” Djokovic concluded.
