"This is going to hit him hard, it's really unfortunate for a guy who had worked so hard to be loved" - John McEnroe on Novak Djokovic deportation saga

Tennis legend John McEnroe believes Novak Djokovic will be hit hard by the deportation saga which forced him to miss the Australian Open. The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion described the situation as "really unfortunate" because the Serb had "worked so hard to be loved."

Djokovic was deported from Australia ahead of the Melbourne Major, which started on Monday, following almost two weeks of controversy over his visa and vaccination status. He arrived in Melbourne on 6 January with an "exemption permission," but was detained at the airport and had his visa revoked.

The World No. 1 won a court case on 10 January to quash the initial ruling for his travel visa to be canceled by the Australian Border Force (ABF). However, he was forced to leave Australia after Immigration Minister Alex Hawke's decision to revoke his visa for a second time, on "health and good order" grounds, was upheld in court on Sunday.

All players competing at the Melbourne Grand Slam are required to have had a COVID-19 vaccine, unless they were given a medical exemption. Djokovic has not been vaccinated against the virus, but traveled expecting to be able to compete for a 10th Australian crown after receiving "an exemption permission."

Speaking to Eurosport, McEnroe declared the saga will be tough for Djokovic to swallow due to how he has strived for adoration from tennis fans.

"There’s no question this is going to hit him hard," McEnroe said. "Now there’s uncertainty about the French Open, he’ll need to be vaccinated to play there, and what about Wimbledon? He doesn’t care about these other tournaments, so this is really, really unfortunate for a guy who had worked so hard to be loved. It’s tough to be loved and I know about times when people are against you, but deep down we want to be loved."

The American highlighted the 34-year-old's appreciation of the crowd support he received in last year's US Open final as an example of his desire to be loved.

"When he lost to [Daniil] Medvedev at the [US] Open and he was going for the [calendar] Grand Slam, he said the biggest thing was that he appreciated the crowd there," McEnroe continued. "Australia’s the place where they love him the most and he didn’t even play, so this has gotten to be ludicrous. I don’t know what’s going to happen next."

McEnroe then remarked on Djokovic's mental toughness and how he recovered from a difficult period after winning the 2016 French Open to claim a fourth straight Major and complete the career Grand Slam.

"He is as tough as they come ever on a tennis court mentally, remember a couple of years ago when he fell off the map, he’d won four [Slams] in a row and the next year and a half or so he couldn’t beat anyone," McEnroe added. "All of a sudden, he came back and he was better than ever."

"He has made it somewhat more difficult for himself by not getting vaccinated" - John McEnroe on Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic practicing prior to the 2022 Australian Open

John McEnroe expressed his view that Novak Djokovic has complicated his chase for Grand Slam titles this year by not getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

"He has made it somewhat more difficult for himself by not getting vaccinated," McEnroe said. "That’s complicated things for trying to defend titles that he won. I don’t know if he thought he could go down to Australia and compete, I’m still trying to figure out why he would meet with a journalist if in fact he had Covid and not tell the journalist, I find that hard to believe."

Djokovic won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles last year. The 34-year-old is tied on a men's record 20 Major titles with great rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.