SPORT

Novak Djokovic returns to Australia a year after visa ban

Novak Djokovic returns to Australia a year after visa ban

Novak Djokovic is back in Australia, according to a Tennis Australia spokesman, almost a year after his visa was banned.

The 21-time Grand Slam champion is scheduled to open the 2023 tennis season next week in Adelaide. It comes more than a month after Australian officials said Djokovic's three-year ban from entering the country would be lifted.

The Serbian was deported from Australia in January after former immigration minister Alex Hawke found the tennis star posed a risk to public health and order because, as a famous athlete, he had spoken out against the covid vaccine.

The minister's decision to expel the former men's world No.1 saw him initially banned from re-entry for three years.

On Monday, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said, "We will welcome him to Australia."

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