The 34-year-old world No 1 arrived in Melbourne last week ahead of the Australian Open, hoping to win a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title.
But officers at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport decided the unvaccinated star had failed to present a solid medical reason for not being jabbed.
Djokovic’s visa was revoked and he was moved to a notorious immigration detention facility pending deportation.
In an emergency online court hearing Monday, federal Judge Anthony Kelly listened to extended legal wrangling about the process, before jumping to Djokovic’s defence.
Declaring himself “somewhat agitated”, Kelly said Djokovic had provided evidence from “a professor and an eminently qualified physician” about a medical exemption.
“What more could this man have done?” the judge demanded.
Granting the Serbian ace some breathing space, the judge also agreed to postpone any effort to deport Djokovic until 8pm, acting minutes before a previous order was due to expire.
Technical error
Monday’s proceedings were repeatedly delayed as the court’s online system crashed under a surge of worldwide interest.
Anti-vaccine activists shared a link to the livestream, while others defied a court order by broadcasting proceedings live on YouTube and Twitch.
Later, the court provided its own YouTube link, quickly attracting an audience of 20,000.
Djokovic’s team of top-flight lawyers argued that during overnight questioning at the airport, he was “utterly confused” about the situation and not given fair redress.
The judge, too, questioned Djokovic’s treatment.
He asked his lawyers to confirm Djokovic had been instructed to turn off his phone at 4am and that he had been held “effectively incommunicado” for nearly eight hours until his visa was cancelled.
Djokovic has been in detention at the former Park Hotel, a five-storey facility that holds about 32 migrants trapped in Australia’s hardline immigration system — some for years on end.
An early plea by Djokovic to be moved to a facility where he can train for the Australian Open has fallen on deaf ears, his lawyers said.
But during the court’s cyber woes, he won permission to watch Monday’s proceedings from another, undisclosed location before returning to the detention centre when hearings conclude.
In a hunt to discover his whereabouts, photographers and TV journalists crowded around a white van with tinted windows that left the building during the court’s lunch break.
But it was impossible to see if Djokovic was inside.
Though the hearing was held online, a small group of Djokovic fans gathered outside the federal court building, waving a Serbian flag, holding up a photo of their hero and dancing to the tune of an accordion.
Earlier, at a rally in Belgrade, Djokovic’s mother Dijana claimed her son was staying “in not human conditions”.
“They detained him and even don’t give him breakfast, he has only lunch and dinner,” she said, quoted by local media.
“He does not have a normal window, he stares at a wall.”
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said this weekend that after “constructive talks” with her Australian counterpart “we managed that he gets gluten-free food, exercise equipment, a laptop”.
Positive test
Government lawyers reject Djokovic’s case, and are expected to argue later Monday that he fails to meet the medical criteria as his recent infection was not “acute”.
They will seek to have his appeal dismissed with costs, according to a 13-page court submission, paving the way for his deportation as soon as Monday evening.
Despite Djokovic’s claim of a positive test on Dec 16, he attended a gathering that day for the Serbian national postal service launching a stamp series in his honour.
Pictures shared by the Belgrade tennis federation also showed him at a young players’ event in the city on Dec 17.
It reported that he had handed over cups and prizes to players. No one was wearing a mask.
As other players now enter the final intense phase of preparations for the tournament, Djokovic faces huge pressure to be ready in time.
Another tennis player — Czech doubles specialist Renata Voracova — has also had her visa cancelled after obtaining a medical exemption.
She flew out of Australia on Saturday after being held in the same Melbourne centre as Djokovic.
‘Doing the right thing’
Djokovic’s lawyers have told the court that Tennis Australia needs an answer by Tuesday. The draw for the event is scheduled for Thursday.
But Judge Kelly has warned justice will move at its own pace through all necessary appeals.
“The tail won’t be wagging the dog here,” he said.
Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley on Monday defended his organisation from criticism that it failed to warn players that a previous infection did not qualify them for entry without a Covid-19 vaccination.
Tiley said he had asked the government to review medical exemptions before the players arrived, but “they declined”.
“We asked if they could please assess our decisions. We said we’re going to need some help to make sure we’re doing the right thing. We’d be in a different situation today,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.