Melbourne : Czech tennis player Renata Voracova, placed in the same Melbourne detention centre where Novak Djokovic is believed to be staying after both had their Australian visas revoked, says her stay so far has felt like being “in prison”.
It is understood she had entered Australia with a vaccine exemption on the basis she had been infected with COVID-19 in the last six months, the same reason used by men's world No.1 Novak Djokovic, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. But, like Djokovic, she ended up in detention after Australian border authorities determined both players had not in fact met entry requirements.
“I’m in a room and I can’t go anywhere. My window is shut tight, I can’t open it five centimetres” the 38-year-old Voracova, ranked 81st in doubles, told the Czech newspapers DNES and Sport on Friday.
“And there are guards everywhere, even under the window, which is quite funny. Maybe they thought I would jump and run away,” added Voracova, labelling the hotel as “a better dormitory”. “They bring me food and there’s a guard in the corridor. You have to report, everything is rationed. I feel a bit like in prison.”
It is unclear why authorities began investigating Voracova after she was initially allowed into the country.
Unvaccinated against Covid-19, Voracova was permitted to enter on an exemption provided by Tennis Australia for her to play in the Australian Open after recovering from the disease late last year.
But the Australian government says recent infection is not an acceptable reason for foreign nationals to gain entry without being fully vaccinated.
Victoria was let in by the federal officials, however she was held at the state checkpoint. She even played a doubles match at the Melbourne WTA event in the run-up to the Australian Open starting on Jan 17.
On Thursday, local authorities revoked her visa, interrogated her for several hours and sent her into quarantine at the Park Hotel in Melbourne.
Unlike the world number one Novak Djokovic, who is awaiting a court ruling, possibly as soon as Monday, on his chances to compete for a record 21st Grand Slam title, Voracova is planning to go back home.
Djokovic's lawyers on the other hand, are preparing a legal challenge to his visa cancellation, which is scheduled to go to a federal court hearing on Monday, and have been given until Saturday evening, local time, to file a summary of their case.