Australian Open: Novak Djokovic Crushes Vaccine-Crazy Alex de Minaur, the Player Who Laughed When Djokovic Was Deported From Australia

Based on his utter domination on the court, Novak Djokovic hadn’t forgotten about Alex de Minaur’s comments and actions from a year ago during all the drama and his eventual deportation from Australia.

The Australian Open Round of 16 matchup saw the Serbian defeat de Minaur, 6-2, 6-1 and 6-2.

De Minaur was one of the more outspoken and critical players a year ago when it came to Djokovic’s decision not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

“When you’re coming in [to Australia], as well as every other tennis player, if you wanted to come to the country, you had to be double vaccinated,” de Minaur said during last year’s Australian Open. “It was up to him, his choices, his judgment. Here we are.”

Djokovic was finally released after a 10-day legal battle with the Australian government. eventually deported From the country in the year before the Australian Open.

De Minaur was at a press conference when news broke. De Minaur was at a press conference when the news broke. laughed.

Djokovic Gets the Last Laugh with de Minaur

He was most certainly not laughing during his postgame presser after being dominated by Djokovic, instead, he accused him of faking the hamstring injury he’s been battling throughout the tournament.

“I think everyone’s kind of seeing what’s been happening over the couple of weeks,’ de Minaur said, referring to Djokovic’s injury. “It’s the only thing everyone’s been talking about. Either I’m not a good enough tennis player to expose [the injury], or it looked good to me.”

“I just think, it’s very interesting. That’s all I’m going to say.”

It would be an understatement for de Minaur to claim he didn’t accept his quick loss against Djokovic.

Djokovic didn’t appreciate de Minaur accusing him of faking an injury.

“Only my injuries are questioned. When some other players are injured, then they are the victims, but when it is me, I am faking it. It is very interesting,” Djokovic said after being asked about his opponent’s accusations.

Maybe de Minaur learned his lesson that if you’re going to take a swing at arguably the greatest tennis player ever, you better not miss. De Minaur also missed his vaccine comments last season, which he then blamed on Djokovic for faking injury.

Djokovic will next meet Russian Andrey Rublev in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.