Djokovic, 37, was detained in a hotel used by Australian immigration authorities to house non-citizens, including asylum seekers, back in 2022 when they cancelled his visa during a legal battle over the player’s vaccination status.
But in a interview with GQ magazine that was released online on Thursday, Djokovic has now claimed that medical tests in Europe appeared to show he had been “poisoned”.
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Read More“I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I was – I had a really high level of heavy metal. Heavy metal. I had the lead, a very high level of lead and mercury.”
Djokovic was not initially asked about the claims at his pre-tournament press conference on Friday afternoon in Melbourne, which started in jovial fashion as he gate-crashed Alexander Zverev’s session with questions about the German’s love of space.
The 10-time Australian Open champion though batted them off and allowed the question, but then proceeded to ask that no one talked about it in any more detail.
“I’ve done that interview many months ago. I would appreciate not talking more in detail about that, as I would like to focus on the tennis and why I’m here.
Another reporter shouted from the back of the room to ask a follow-up, but Djokovic left the room without answering.
Djokovic, who is chasing a record 25th grand slam title with new coach Andy Murray in tow, had already discussed suffering flashbacks to the week-long saga that dominated the 2022 tournament on arriving in Australia.
“And some traces still stay there when I’m passing passport control, just checking out if someone from immigration zone is approaching.
Nick Kyrgios, who played doubles with Djokovic in Brisbane earlier this year, admitted of the 2022 debacle: “We treated him like s**t, that’s for sure. We shouldn’t have done that.”
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