Czech tennis star deported from Australia as visa is cancelled amid Djokovic row

Czech star Renata Voracova has been deported from Australia after her visa was cancelled by the Border Force.

Voracova departed Melbourne on a flight to Dubai on Saturday night local time after initially being held in the same quarantine hotel as Novak Djokovic.

It is believed Voracova was granted the same exemption by Tennis Australia as Djokovic. She had already played in a warm-up competition Down Under.

But, unlike Djokovic, she has now left Australia without challenging the ruling.

It comes after the Serb's lawyers claimed he tested positive for Covid-19 just a couple of weeks before arriving in Australia.

"Mr Djokovic had received, on 30 December 2021, a letter from the Chief Medical Officer of Tennis Australia (‘Exemption Certificate’) recording that he had been provided with a ‘medical exemption from COVID vaccination’ on the ground that he had recently recovered from COVID," the document reads.

"The Exemption Certificate also recorded that … the date of the first positive COVID PCR test was recorded on 16 December 2021, it had now been 14 days, and Mr Djokovic had not had a fever or respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 in the last 72 hours."

The World No.1 travelled to Australia in the hope of winning his 21st Grand Slam title to surpass Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

But his involvement in Melbourne is subject of an appeal against his deportation, which is expected to conclude on Monday.

Djokovic, who is opposed to vaccination but has never confirmed if he has or has not had the jab, believed he had papers from the Department of Home Affairs stating he met the requirements to travel with quarantine.

Tennis Australia (TA), meanwhile, told players they could enter the country without being vaccinated if they had tested positive within the last six months.

They said in a statement: "The following has now been clarified as a category for which you may be eligible for a temporary medical exemption: Recent PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (after 31 July 2021) where a vaccination can be deferred until six months after the infection."

TA also declared that applications for medical exemption must be sent on or by 10 December 2021, which is six days before Djokovic tested positive.

The sporting organisation's advice seemed to be contrast to the rules stipulated by Health Minister Greg Hun.

And upon landing at Melbourne Airport the Serbian superstar was denied entry with Australian Border Force (ABF) officials claiming he had "failed to provide appropriate evidence".

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