Novak Djokovic received a positive reception on his return to Australia as he rarely played in doubles at the Adelaide International.
The Serb was deported ahead of the 2022 Australian Open due to his Covid-19 vaccination status.
Three-year Djokovic’s visa ban was lifted in November, which allowed him to enter the country.
He and Canada’s Vasek Pospisil were beaten 4-6 6-3 10-5 by Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar on their comeback.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion enjoyed tremendous support from the crowd throughout the match, who were met with cheers and chants of “Novak, Novak” as he entered the court.
The 35-year-old, currently ranked fifth, stayed after the loss to sign autographs and take photos with fans.
He is the top singles seed in Adelaide and will face France’s Constant Lestien in the first round on Tuesday as he continues his build-up to the Australian Open, the first major of the season, which starts on January 16.
Djokovic is a nine-time Melbourne champion and is just one Grand Slam title shy of Rafael Nadal’s men’s record of 22.
Elsewhere in the men’s singles in Adelaide on Monday, British number three Jack Draper beat South Korea’s Kwon Sun-woo 6-2 6-1 to reach the second round.
Australian qualifier Oleksii Popyrin stunned Canadian second seed and world number six Felix Auger-Aliasime 6-4 7-6 (7-5), while world number 11 Holger Rune of Denmark also crashed out early at the hands of Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. who won 2-6 6-4 6-4.
What happened 12 months ago?
When Djokovic arrived in Australia for the 2022 tournament last January, the number of Covid-19 cases was rising rapidly and government rules required anyone entering the country to be vaccinated unless they had a valid drug exemption.
Djokovic, who was detained by the Australian Border Force while entering the country and forced to stay in an immigration hotel claimed to be medically cleared to defend his title without the vaccination as he had recently recovered from Covid.
However, after 10 days of legal wrangling, the government ruled that he does not meet the requirements for entry so his visa was canceled and he was automatically banned from entering Australia until 2025.
Djokovic’s detention dominated the headlines in the run-up to the tournament as crowds gathered outside his hotel arguing for and against his possible deportation.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, whose government came to power in May, lifted the visa ban in November and Djokovic said “very happy” hearing this news.
