Tennis News : Australian Open preps continue as champion Novak Djokovic awaits fate

Australian Open preparations continued on Friday at Melbourne Park as defending men's champion Novak Djokovic awaited his fate in a Melbourne detention hotel.

Djokovic, a vocal skeptic of vaccines, had traveled to Australia after Victoria state authorities granted him a medical exemption to the country's strict vaccination requirements.

But when he arrived late Wednesday, the Australian Border Force rejected his exemption as invalid and barred him from entering the country.

A court hearing on his bid to stave off deportation was set for Monday, a week before the season's first major tennis tournament is set to begin.

A small group of supporters of tennis star Novak Djokovic held a protest on Friday outside the Melbourne hotel where he is being kept while appealing the denial of his visa to enter Australia.