Novak Djokovic Shockingly Reveals He Was Poisoned During 2022 Australia Detention
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Novak Djokovic's detention before the 2022 Australian Open caused worldwide controversy. The Serbian recently made a startling revelation about that time that fans were unaware of.
Djokovic is the most successful player in the Australian Open's history with ten titles. He is back in Melbourne to try to win an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam, which would take him ahead of Margaret Court as the sole leader for major titles.
After an inspired performance, Reilly Opelka defeated the 37-year-old at last week's Brisbane International. That meant Djokovic may have not gotten the number of matches he hoped for at the ATP 250 tournament ahead of the Australian Open.
However, his performances during the Australian Open fan week could indicate that the three singles and two doubles matches he played in Brisbane might have been all the preparation necessary to find his rhythm.
Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz 7-5 during a practice session. The set was reported to contain exceptional shot-making from both men. Andy Murray, the tennis legend's new coach, constantly communicated with him during the set.
The 24-time major title winner also led Jack Draper, who picked Djokovic as the greatest player ever during a recent interview, 6-2, 1-3 before their practice slot ended, and overcame Alexander Zverev in an exhibition match.
Despite the outstanding tennis he usually produces in Melbourne, Djokovic will never forget what he went through when trying to enter Australia at the beginning of 2022 after initially being given a medical exemption for the Australian Open.
Immigration officials at the airport decided he did not satisfy the criteria to enter Australia as someone who had not taken one of the COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, he was detained in an immigration hotel for five days.
Despite the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia ordering Djokovic's release, immigration minister Alex Hawke used his ministerial powers to deny the former ATP world No. 1 a visa and deport him from the country.
Those events were shocking, but there is something fans did not know until Djokovic discussed it in an interview with GQ: he was poisoned by the food given to him during his five-day detention in the immigration hotel.
"When I got home, I had some health issues. And I realized that in that hotel in Melbourne, I was fed with some food that poisoned me."
"Well, 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."
That is an extraordinary claim by Djokovic, but he then went even further by describing how sick the poisoning made him when he returned to Serbia after being deported.
"Yeah, very sick. It was like the flu, just a simple flu. But when it was days after that a simple flu took me down so much, I had an emergency medical team treat me at home. I had that several times and then I had to do toxicology [tests]."
Being poisoned by the food given to him adds an extra layer of bitterness to what was already a traumatizing experience. Djokovic recently admitted he still gets anxiety when going through Melbourne airport.
