‘Should deport him again’: Radio host Neil Mitchell takes a swipe at ‘ungracious’ Novak Djokovic

Radio host Neil Mitchell has taken a public swipe at tennis star Novak Djokovic, calling for the 35 year old to be deported again for being “extremely ungracious”.

Mitchell’s dig at Djokovic follows the tennis star’s 6-2 6-1 6-2 victory over Alex de Minaur in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Monday, January 23.

Well done on a great run, @alexdeminaur ????#GoAussies • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/cmeFlTOOcv

— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) January 23, 2023

Although, Mitchell held no ill will towards Djokovic for his victory he did take issue with his comments in his post match press conference which seemingly disparaged de Minaur.

Following the match, Djokovic claimed he doesn’t” have any relationship” with his competitor before referring to de Minaur’s comments regarding his deportation saga in 2022.

“I respect him as a rival, a colleague, as I respect everyone. I have no problem contacting him, congratulating him, etc,” Djokovic said.

“But I don’t have any other relationship. I don’t have any communication with him. He showed in 2022 what he thinks about me.”

In 2022 de Minaur weighed in on Djokovic’s deportation saga, claiming that “when you’re coming in, as well as every other tennis player, if you wanted to come to the country, you had to be double vaccinated.”

“It was up to him, his choices, his judgment,” he said at the time.

“Novak can get nicked.”https://t.co/7897iGEJ06

— 3AW Melbourne (@3AW693) January 24, 2023

Regardless of what spurred Djokovic’s recent comments, Mitchell took issue with Djokovic’s approach claiming that “it was obvious Novak Djokovic bore a grude”.

“(From) what I’ve been reading, Novak Djokovic can get nicked,” Mitchell said to his 3AW listeners.

“Novak Djokovic … I don’t really care about the tennis but I hope he doesn’t win.

“In Serbian he has given Alex de Minaur a real spray after the game because de Minaur had a bit of a go at him a year ago when he was banned and then deported.

“And it was obvious Novak Djokovic bore a grudge and was determined to wipe him off the court, which he did.

“But then he was extremely ungracious in his victory and in a foreign tongue.

“So does he not think that will come back to Australia? It has come back to Australia.

“Should deport him again, deport him for being ungracious.”

Djokovic’s 2022 deportation sage proved to be a tumultuous time for the tennis star, after his visa was cancelled over his vaccination status which prevented him from competing in the Australian Open.