“If it weren’t for Novak Djokovic, this wouldn’t have happened to us” Unvaccinated coach Filip Serdarusic reveals how Djokovic’s case got him deported out of Australia
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Novak Djokovic and Filip Serdarusic
Novak Djokovic‘s fight against the Australian government to gain entry into Australia will go for round 2 after the player was detained once again. Upon arriving in Melbourne late on January 5th, Djokovic was taken into a federal quarantine hotel with the purpose of deporting him while his lawyers approached the court to overturn the decision, which they did eventually as the court ruled in Novak’s favour.
While Djokovic was able to battle the Australian government, Filip Serdarusic, coach and brother of Croatian player Nino Serdarusic, was deported back to his country as he had entered the country with the same exemption Djokovic currently has. In a recent interview with Sportklub.com, Filip talked about how Djokovic’s case led to him being deported.
Filip revealed that similar to Djokovic, his agent had filed the papers and they had informed Tennis Australia that Filip was unvaccinated. He received the green signal from the medical committee and upon arriving in Australia, his documents were checked once again by immigration officers and upon reviewing them, he was told that he ‘could enter the country freely’.
“On the day of Novak Djokovic’s arrival, at ten in the evening, they invited me from the immigration centre to come for an interview the next day. The Tennis Association of Australia sent a car to pick me up an hour before my brother’s quarterfinal match, it took me until 5 pm to show up there.
“I went to a hotel in Melbourne, talked to the players and I had two options: to go home legally or to apply for a visa again. Since 99 percent would reject it because they decided it wasn’t worth it anymore that you were lying down, I decided to pick myself up, because I’m not as big as Novak to fight. If they stopped him, they had to stop us,” said Filip.
Filip Sedarusic did not like the way Novak Djokovic was treated
Filip however went ahead and blamed the Australian government for making this mess of the situation that has dragged the entire country and the sport in it. The Croatian was firm that nor Djokovic nor he made the rules for exemption and it was the Government’s doing throughout the situation that has impacted the 2022 Australian Open.
“People comment on everything ugly. I will just say: when we applied for a visa, we had to meet the conditions. Neither Novak nor I came up with an exception, we worked according to their rules and we were allowed to enter. They can strengthen politically on it, they can’t on us little ones, that’s why what is happening is happening. We just used the opportunity they gave us.
“He is ideal for that before the elections, it seems to me. If they let the Czech and me go, why didn’t they let him go? I think that the Tennis Association of Australia hoped that he would enter as we do, but everyone knows him. If it weren’t for Novak, this wouldn’t have happened to us,” concluded Filip.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)