Novak Djokovic's Australian Open treatment was unfair and "disastrous", says Marin Cilic, praises Serbian great for amazing comeback in 2022

Marin Cilic has bemoaned the treatment of Novak Djokovic during his 2022 Australian saga, which saw him being held in a detention center in Melbourne before being deported from Australia. The Croatian tennis star believes the Serbian great was treated unfairly and went through a "disastrous" experience.

Having said that, Cilic tipped his hat to Djokovic for coming out on the other side of the experience in Australia as strong and focused as ever. The Serb himself has spoken about the emotional turmoil of it all time and again, and Cilic touched upon the same.

Almost a year since the controversy, the 9-time Australian Open champion is set to make his comeback at the Melbourne Major in less than a fortnight. While expressing his delight at Djokovic's return to Australia, Cilic shared his views on the 2022 saga.

"Hats off to Novak because he went through a very big emotional difficulty in that January of last year," Cilic said in a press conference ahead of the start of his 2023 Tata Open Maharashtra campaign.

"Definitely, whatever it was, it wasn't fair to him, absolutely not. And that was disastrous for him as an athlete to go through those things."

Djokovic's troubles did not end in Australia. He was also disallowed from playing in the United States and Canada as he remained unvaccinated, thereby missing tournaments like the US Open and Masters 1000 events in Cincinnati, Indian Wells, Miami, and Montreal.

However, when he did play, the 35-year-old was at his supreme best more often than not, winning tournaments in Tel Aviv (beat Cilic in the final) and Astana, the Italian Open in Rome, the ATP Finals, as well as his 21st Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.

Cilic was left impressed by the Serb's ability to stay mentally strong and produce his best amidst all the tension around.

"It's just extremely difficult and proves again that he's got that stellar ability to keep his focus, to keep his mentality there up. And then still winning a Grand Slam this last year," Cilic expressed.

"So hats off to him, managed to play great tennis and a really amazing end of the season. Fantastic he played after the US Open, he played in Tel Aviv and also in Kazakhstan and Bercy, he was playing amazing tennis."

"So yeah, wishing him absolutely all the best for the season," the former US Open champion concluded as saying.

Novak Djokovic begins comeback campaign in Australia with a win

Novak Djokovic celebrates his win at the 2023 Adelaide International 1.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic marked his return to Australia with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Frenchman Constant Lestienne in his opening match at the Adelaide International 1 on Tuesday. It was also his 29th consecutive singles victory in Australia, having last lost a singles match in the country back at the 2018 Australian Open.

The Serb also competed in the doubles event in Adelaide, where his and doubles partner Vasek Pospisil's campaign ended with a loss in the opening round. The World No. 5 will face another Frenchman, Quentin Halys, in his Round-of-16 match in Adelaide on Thursday, with a potential quarterfinal against Denis Shapovalov looming large.

Meanwhile, Marin Cilic will begin his 2023 season with a Round of 16 match against Spain's Roberto Carballes Baena at the Tata Open Maharashtra on Wednesday.