Serbian tennis great Novak Djokovic has told magazine GQ that he believes he was “poisoned” during his time in an immigration detention facility in Melbourne ahead of the 2022 Australian Open.

In a GQ interview released on Thursday, the 24-time grand slam champion claimed that the food he was served in a Melbourne hotel where he was being held after his visa was cancelled made him ill.

In 2022, Djokovic was detained after Australian authorities revoked his visa exemption due to his unvaccinated status amid the country’s strict COVID-19 entry regulations at the time.

“I realized that in that hotel in Melbourne, I was fed food that poisoned me,” Djokovic told GQ. “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, very high level of lead and mercury.”

GQ reported that the Australian Department of Home Affairs declined to comment on the matter, citing privacy concerns.

Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, who was not in office at the time of the incident, was asked about the player’s comments on Friday.

“I haven’t seen those comments, so I’m not going to respond to comments that I haven’t seen,” Albanese responded. “I wish Mr Djokovic very well, all the very best on the court over the period of the Australian Open,” he said.

Djokovic also claimed that his deportation from Australia was politically motivated.

“It was so political. It had nothing really to do with vaccine or COVID or anything else. The politicians could not stand me being there. For them, I think, it was less damage to deport me than to keep me there,” Djokovic said in the GQ interview.

Despite his family’s resentment, Djokovic holds no grudge against Australia, stating, “I actually love being there, and I think my results are a testament to my sensation of playing tennis and just being in that country.”

The 37-year-old is set to begin his quest for a 25th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, which starts on Sunday. He has already claimed the Melbourne title a record 10 times, most recently in 2023.

(dpa/NAN)