John McEnroe has slammed Australia's handling of the Novak Djokovic saga
John McEnroe has slammed Australia’s handling of the Novak Djokovic saga (Pictures: Getty/ESPN)

Tennis legend John McEnroe has slammed Australia’s handling of the Novak Djokovic saga, describing it as an ‘absolute joke’ and ‘total bull****’.

Djokovic and his team were pictured boarding a flight to Serbia on Monday morning after his deportation from Australia was confirmed over the weekend.

The Serbian had a last-ditch bid to stay in the country and compete in the Australian Open rejected by judges, after the government cancelled his visa on ‘health and good order’ grounds.

McEnroe believes the saga has been ‘a joke’ and says it is ‘total bull***’ that Djokovic has been deported after receiving a medical exception to travel to Australia.

The outspoken former tennis star also praised ‘gutsy’ Djokovic for risking deportation as he attempts to surpass Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as the most successful male tennis player in history.

McEnroe said on ESPN: ‘[It’s an] absolute joke what’s gone on the last 12 days. It’s sad the way it ended. I watched it play out live.

‘It’s total BS. If he decides not to have a vaccine and the Australian authorities say, “you cannot go down there, unless you’re vaccinated”, end of story, it’s black and white.

Djokovic twice appealed his deportation in court
Djokovic twice appealed his deportation in court (Picture: Reuters)

‘He decides whether or not he wants to do it. He’s got very strong beliefs he’s entitled to those beliefs. The guy’s won it nine times. It was gutsy (to go) in a way.

‘I’ve got to hand it to him. I’ve got seven majors, he’s got 20, the reason he’s got a lot more than me is because he’s willing to go risk that, to go down there.

‘You’re talking about a guy that was potentially about to break Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s record and that he was willing to go to these lengths, “I don’t want to get vaccinated but I’m going to do whatever it takes”.’

Seven-time Grand Slam champion McEnroe added: ‘Ok, let’s assume that he wasn’t going to play but then suddenly he got Covid and then he got an exemption and he can play.

‘You can’t tell him after he flies all the way there. That’s why people are up in arms, but nonetheless they granted this exemption. You can’t do this after that, it’s a joke.’

Djokovic was looking to defend his Australian Open title as well as eclipse Federer and Nadal on 20 Grand Slams.

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The 34-year-old has also received support from Manchester United and Serbia star Nemanja Matic following his departure from Australia.

Sharing an image of Djokovic on Instagram, the Old Trafford star wrote: ‘Your glory and their shame will live forever.’

British tennis star Andy Murray, meanwhile, has said the Djokovic saga has ‘not been good for anyone’.

‘It is not great for the tournament because it is better when all of the top players are playing in the event,’ Murray said ahead of his first round match in Melbourne.

‘There are obviously going to be a lot of questions about what has happened here and the situation he has been in.

Andy Murray has addressed the Djokovic saga
Andy Murray has addressed the Djokovic saga (Picture: Getty)

‘Novak is someone I have known since we were 12 years old, he is someone who I respect and have competed against. I don’t like he is in this situation and I don’t like he has been in detention.

‘The situation has not been good all round for anyone. It feels everything here happened extremely last minute and that’s why it became such a mess.

‘Hopefully that won’t be the case at other events so there is no other situation like this. I wouldn’t want that for Novak, don’t want that for tennis and hopefully it is done now.’

Following Djokovic’s deportation, Nadal is only former Australian Open winner left in the men’s draw and the Spaniard breezed into the second round with an emphatic win over Marcos Giron on Monday.

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