Tennis star, Novak Djokovic breaks silence from Hotel Detention with Message to Fans

Novak Djokovic has broken his silence after having his visa revoked in Australia amid his exemption to get vaccinated.

The world No 1 tennis player travelled to Melbourne with a medical exemption but had his visa cancelled after arriving on Wednesday night and is now staying in a detention hotel in the city as he awaits the resumption of an appeal hearing on Monday.

The nine-time Australian Open champion took to Instagram on Friday to thank his fans for supporting him.

‘Thank you to people around the world for your continuous support. I can feel it and it is greatly appreciated,’ he posted on his Instagram story.

Djokovic also posted a festive message to his 9.8million followers with today (January 7) being the day Serbs celebrate Christmas Day.

He said: ‘The peace of God. A Christ has been born. Merry Christmas. May God’s love strengthen and fulfil you.’

Djokovic had been granted a medical exemption to compete at the Australian Open, due to start on January 17, with the 34-year-old not revealing if he’s vaccinated against coronavirus or not, a requirement for players to participate in the first Grand Slam of the year.

As the 20-time Grand Slam champion waits for Monday’s verdict, fans have gathered outside his hotel room with flags to show their support.

Earlier today, his mother claimed he is struggling in quarantine.

‘I spoke with him a couple of hours ago, he was good, we didn’t speak a lot but we spoke for a few minutes. He was trying to sleep, but he couldn’t,’ Dijana Djokovic said at a press conference in Belgrade on Thursday.

‘As a mother, what can I say, you can just imagine how I feel, I feel terrible since yesterday, the last 24 hours.