Novak Djokovic refused to answer a question ahead of the Australian Open (Image: AP)
Novak Djokovic has awkwardly refused to answer pre-tournament questions over his claim he was “poisoned” during his deportation saga at the 2022 .
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 vaccine.
Speaking in Melbourne Park today, Djokovic answered six questions on other matters – including two on his new coach – before the ATP invigilator tried to stop his press conference.
An Aussie reporter demanded to know if the 10-time 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.
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Novak Djokovic will be aiming to win his 11th Australian Open title this month (Image: GETTY)
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“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.”
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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 -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 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.”