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Court documents show Novak Djokovic had COVID-19 last month

Novak Djokovic’s lawyers filed court papers Saturday in his challenge against deportation from Australia that show the tennis star tested positive for COVID-19 last month and recovered, grounds he used in applying for a medical exemption to the country’s strict vaccination rules.

The No. 1-ranked Djokovic was denied entry at the Melbourne airport late Wednesday after border officials canceled his visa for failing to meet its entry requirement that all non-citizens be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

Melbourne: Protesters and fans of Serbia’s Novak Djokovic gather outside the Park Hotel, used as an immigration detention hotel where Djokovic is confined in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022.

Djokovic was given a medical exemption backed by the Victoria state government and Australian Open organisers on Jan. 1, based on information he supplied to two independent medical panels, and he was approved for a visa electronically.

But it has since emerged that the Victoria state medical exemption, allowed for people who tested positive for the coronavirus within the last six months, was deemed invalid by the federal border authorities.