The blazing fire of the golden era of men's tennis has been reduced to dying embers without Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal but Novak Djokovic can send one last flame shooting into the Melbourne sky at this year's Australian Open.

Djokovic, like Court, won his first Slam at the Australian Open and he can end the debate definitively on his 22nd visit to Melbourne as a professional. Aside from the reliable band of supporters from the local Serbian community, the veteran has rarely been the most popular player at Melbourne Park but he has always been among the best.

Novak Djokovic has revealed the "trauma" he experiences whenever he visits Melbourne, three years after he was deported for a breach of Australia's COVID-19 rules.

Novak Djokovic says he has felt some “trauma” when landing in Australia in the years since he was deported from the country in 2022. Having arrived ahead of the 2022 Australian Open not vaccinated against coronavirus,

Novak Djokovic was deported from the Melbourne airport in 2022 because of his non-vaccination status against coronavirus. He had come to the country to play Australia Open that year.