“Arrogance and entitled,” Novak Djokovic faces intense backlash over latest interview criticizing Australian government for his deportation

Novak Djokovic is in simply ominous form. The Serb started the 2023 season with a bang as expected. He won the Adelaide International tournament last week defeating Sebastian Korda in a thrilling encounter. This makes Djokovic the clear favorite in the Australian Open scheduled to start next week.

The season on Australian soil is coming after the tumultuous couple of years Djokovic had where he faced a lot of negative media attention. Last year right before the same tournament the 21-time Grand Slam winner was detained and deported embarrassingly. Djokovic has made it clear that he has left all the forgettable memories behind him and is ready for a fresh start. 

But as Australian fans are famous for not letting the past go away, Djokovic is still facing criticism in some of the social media corners. Djokovic, in an interview, criticized the Australian government for the last year’s episode. The users have pointed out the fact that the 35-year-old is blaming everyone but himself for what happened to him last year. 

Novak Djokovic has had an ambiguous stand on the issue of vaccination. Last year he made it clear that he was not against vaccination but would skip Grand Slam tournaments if he was forced to take the jab against COVID-19. Eventually, in 2022 he failed to get a visa exemption and was deported from Australia. 

Related: Andy Murray fuels Nick Kyrgios ‘Australian Open favourite’ talk but issues a warning

Novak Djokovic still facing criticism online for his ambiguous stand

Despite the last year’s infamous saga becoming an episode to forget as the new season begins, the controversy is refusing to die down altogether. Novak Djokovic received a grand reception when he landed in Australia early this year. All the fans were thrilled to see their star once again in his favorite hunting ground. 

Djokovic too on his part seemed to leave the drama behind as responded to the overwhelming support. He emphasized that he was ready to make a fresh start. From a macroscopic view, everything seemed to be hunky-dory. 

But in some social media circles, people are not ready to accept the record nine-time Australian Open champion wholeheartedly. There are still some murmurs about how Djokovic has failed to share a part of the blame for the last year’s controversy. Here are some of the tweets criticizing Djokovic for that. 

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