Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic has set the eyes rolling ahead of Australian Open 2025 by claiming that he was 'poisoned' during hotel quarantine before the Australian Open 2022. He even claimed that his food had lead and mercury. The 24-time Grand Slam champion made the claim during an interview with GQ.
He claimed, "I realized 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 discovered that I had a really high level of heavy metal. I had lead, a very high level of lead and mercury."
Why was Novak Djokovic's visa cancelled during Australian Open 2022?
Djokovic had his visa cancelled in 2022 and was eventually ruled out of the Grand Slam after refusing to take vaccination against COVID-19. He was confined in a hotel in Melbourne during the time as he was fighting a legal battle.
During the interview he further added, “I’m not pro-vaccine. I’m not anti-vax. I am pro-freedom to choose what is right for you and your body. So when somebody takes away my right to choose what I should be taking for my body, I don’t think that’s correct.”
Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz on quarterfinal collision course
Novak Djokovic, who is eyeing an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title and an 11th Australian Open trophy will play opening round against wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy. The Serb could then face Reily Opelka, who recently beat him in the Brisbane International quarterfinal. Victory over Opelka could see Djokovic potentially set up a mouthwatering quarterfinal clash against four-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz at the 2025 edition of the Australian Open.
