As it happened: Djokovic leaves Australia

Serbia's Olympic Committee has described the deportation of the tennis star as a "great injustice".

In a statement, it said he is "our winner".

"We are proud of Novak Djokovic and the way he coped with these extremely difficult and unpleasant circumstances. Despite this scandalous decision, we believe Novak came out as the winner again," the committee said.

It added that Djokovic had been deprived of the opportunity to become the greatest tennis player of all time - though few would bet against him winning a further grand slam on another occasion.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Tracking site FlightRadar confirms Djokovic's plane is currently the most tracked flight on its website.

Thousands of people are watching the player's journey across Australia towards Dubai.

Djokovic will have a long time to think on his flight, with the journey to Dubai lasting 13 hours. Or he could use the WiFi to catch up on the news...

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The absence of Djokovic means the Australian Open will have a winner that isn’t him or Roger Federer for the first time in eight years.

Daniil Medvedev, winner of last year’s US Open, is now said to be the favourite.

Federer is not attending while he recovers from a knee injury.

Djokovic has dominated the tournament in recent years, winning nine titles, more than any other male player in the Australian Open’s history.

Federer has won the Australian Open six times.

The last time the men's tournament was won by a player other than Djokovic and Federer was when Stan Wawrinka clinched the title in 2014, beating Rafael Nadal.

Nadal is now the only member of “the big three” players to be at this year’s tournament.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Deportation from Australia usually comes with a three-year ban from the country - so does this mean that Djokovic will skip the Australian Open until 2025?

Not necessarily.

According to Australian media, he could argue that his presence at the Melbourne grand slam is in the national interest.

“Djokovic can apply to the government to ask for the ban to be waived on compelling and compassionate grounds,” Abul Rizvi, former deputy secretary of the immigration department, told TV show The Project.

“I suspect whoever is the minister would probably allow that,” he added.

The Australian Open is one of the biggest events in the tennis calendar. Djokovic has won the tournament nine times, more than any other male player in the tournament's history.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Before any of this week's craziness, Djokovic was already a divisive player.

When the world men's number one faced Roger Federer in the 2019 Wimbledon final, his misses were clapped and he was jeered in a partisan atmosphere more commonly found at football stadiums.

"You cannot make people love you and that's been the situation a little bit," his former coach Boris Becker had told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.

"He's a fine young sportsman with the right attitude and the right character, he just has a different view on life. He has a different view how he eats, how he drinks, how he sleeps. That's where you can't criticise him. Maybe that's the reason he's so successful, but he's not for everybody - I get it."

Read more on Djokovic and why he's such a polarising player.

Australian journalist Paul Sakkal, who has covered Novak Djokovic's visa saga on the ground for Melbourne paper The Age, says it has caused "anger" and "embarrassment" and cast a shadow over the tennis tournament.

Sakkal was speaking to the BBC's Sunday Morning from Melbourne.

He says the "visceral reaction" to Djokovic's arrival in the country without a vaccine is partly down to the "really large Covid wave" which has driven 35,000 daily cases in Victoria where the Australian Open will be held.

"There was a sense that Djokovic, a wealthy entitled person [...] had somehow found a loophole to get into Australia through a back door," he says.

"I think that fed a lot of the anger and that anger hasn't really dissipated, even though he had his first legal challenge that was successful.

"I think the government made the political calculation that they were still on quite popular political grounds in deporting him and they made that decision on Friday and a court has upheld it today."

He says there is "no doubt this casts a significant shadow over the tournament".

It is "an embarrassment for the organisers" and makes "our government and our federation... look like a bit of a farce", he says.

More images are now coming through of the tennis star at Melbourne's airport, where witnesses saw him board an Emirates flight from Melbourne to Dubai.

Australian journalist Shane McInnes shared images of Djokovic in the Emirates lounge, saying he had been under escort by Australia's Federal Police.

The Djokovic case comes as Australia experiences its highest Covid-19 figures on record.

For the past five days, the country has recorded daily infections of more than 100,000. Thursday saw a pandemic high of 150,000 cases.

But on Sunday, the country saw a drop in cases with 85,824 reported.

Australia had tried to limit the spread of the virus through some of the world’s toughest measures earlier in the pandemic. But it has now shifted to a strategy of living with Covid.

However, issues like a lack of rapid antigen tests – or lateral flow tests – have plagued the country, with reports saying that people are offering as much as A$100 (£73) in their search for a test.

Read more about this here.

Now that some time has passed since the ruling, a number of tennis players are rallying round in support of Djokovic.

US player John Isner wrote on Twitter: “Nole always has and always will be class. He’s an absolute legend in my book that has brought so much good to millions around the world.

“This isn’t right,” he added.

Reilly Opelka, who is due to play at the Australian Open tomorrow, hit back at criticism of Djokovic on the social media site.

Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who co-founded a new tennis players’ association with Djokovic, branded Australia’s decision politically motivated.

“There was a political agenda at play here with the elections coming up which couldn’t be more obvious. This is not his fault. He did not force his way into the country and did not “make his own rules”; he was ready to stay home," he wrote on Twitter.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) says Novak Djokovic's absence from the Australian Open is a "loss for the game" but it continues to "strongly recommend vaccination to all players".

A statement on the ATP website says today's decision to uphold Novak Djokovic’s Australian visa cancellation marks the end of a "deeply regrettable series of events".

It says decisions of legal authorities regarding matters of public health must be respected and more time is needed to establish the facts and learn from what happened.

"Irrespective of how this point has been reached, Novak is one of our sport’s greatest champions and his absence from the Australian Open is a loss for the game," it says.

"We know how turbulent the recent days have been for Novak and how much he wanted to defend his title in Melbourne. We wish him well and look forward to seeing him back on court soon."

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios, who has been supportive of Novak Djokovic during the past 10 days, reacted with a face-palm emoji on Twitter after the men's number one was stripped of his visa.

Kyrgios has previously criticised his country's handling of Djokovic's visa dispute, calling it "really bad" and urging officials to "do better".

Australian Open organisers Tennis Australia say they "respect the decision" of the court.

They say a "lucky loser" - Italian player Salvatore Caruso - will replace Djokovic in the number one slot at the tournament.

Caruso, ranked 175th in the world, failed to qualify for Melbourne - but will now take Djokovic's place in a first-round match tomorrow night.

EPACopyright: EPA

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has told the BBC Novak Djokovic was “tortured and tormented” by the Australian government and “treated like a mass murderer”.

He said the decision taken today could have been made 10 days ago, and that he has “no doubt” Djokovic would have been treated "totally differently" if he wasn’t from Serbia.

Vucic said: "He came to Australia with a medical exemption proposal and then you were mistreating him for 10 days. Why did you do it? Doing a witch hunt against him? This is something that no one can understand."

He added: "I believe that Novak is not humiliated. The people who are humiliated are those who organised this witch hunt process."

Djokovic will be leaving Australia tonight at 2230 local time (1130 GMT), some Australian media are reporting.

Both Sky News and Melbourne paper The Age say he will be flying out of the country on an Emirates flight to Dubai.

The player arrived in the country on an Emirates flight last week, before he was then detained at Melbourne's airport.

If you're just joining us, here's a recap of what's happened today in Melbourne:

• Novak Djokovic has lost his last-ditch court bid to stay in Australia and is set to be deported imminently.
• Federal judges dismissed Djokovic's application to overturn the visa cancellation - which came after the government said his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid made him a threat to public health.
• He was ordered to pay legal costs and faces a possible three-year ban from entering Australia.
• Djokovic said he was "extremely disappointed" but would respect the ruling.
• Australia's prime minister said the ruling backed the government's decision to "keep our borders strong and keep Australians safe".
• It concludes a frenetic 10 days for Djokovic, who was hoping to defend his Australian Open title.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters