Djokovic was deported after his last-minute challenge to a decision to cancel his visa failed on the eve of the Australian Open, where the nine-times champion had aimed to win a record 21st grand slam title.

The three-judge panel of the Federal Court ruled unanimously against Djokovic on Sunday night.

The decision came after Immigration Minister Alex Hawke had cancelled Djokovic's visa for a second time on Friday, citing a risk to public health and the chance the unvaccinated star's presence in Australia could excite anti-vaccination sentiment.

Djokovic had been scheduled to begin his title defence title against fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic on Rod Laver Arena on Monday night after women's world No.1 Ash Barty's clash with Lesia Tsurenko.

But after having spent five nights in a detention hotel, he wasted no time leaving and was pictured accompanied by Australian Border Force officials at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport before boarding an Emirates flight to Dubai that left at 10.30pm..

The 34-year-old may also face a three-year ban on re-entering the country, but that sanction could be waived at a later date.

"I am extremely disappointed with the Court ruling to dismiss my application for judicial review of the Minister's decision to cancel my visa, which means I cannot stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open," Djokovic said in a statement.

"I respect the Court's ruling and I will cooperate with the relevant authorities in relation to my departure from the country.

"I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me and I hope that we can all now focus on the game and tournament I love."

But as much as I would love to scald Djokovic - and believe me, he is in the wrong in this matter - instead I want to turn my attention to Tennis Australia.

TA has been accused of providing misleading information to players, with some reports indicating the governing body had told players they could be granted an exemption from being fully vaccinated if they could prove they had tested positive to COVID-19 within the previous six months.

TA boss Craig Tiley has largely maintained his silence, except to blame "contradictory and conflicting" information for the saga.

Should it be proven that TA did indeed tell ineligible players that they would be able to participate in the Australian Open, that should be the real story here.

It would show an arrogance that is so often prevalent of the rich and famous where it is thought that rules and regulations don't apply to them...because unfortunately, they often don't.

This isn't to let The Joker or any other players who thought they could enter the country unvaccinated off the hook. You know why? Because there was a simple solution to them playing in the first grand slam of the year, and that was to just get vaccinated.

Fellow tennis stars such as Andy Murray and Nick Kyrgios have also made some interesting comments in recent days regarding the matter.

"I don't like he is in this situation and I don't like he has been in detention," Murray told the BBC.

"The situation has not been good all round for anyone. Hopefully, from all sides, from the tournament and from Novak, we can make sure this doesn't happen at any other tournaments and that something is in place ahead of time.

"It feels everything here happened extremely last minute and that's why it became such a s**t show."

And that is one of the issues, it does feel like this all came together in a timeframe that could have been avoided.

The ATP released a statement saying the decision to uphold Djokovic's visa cancellation marked the end of a "deeply regrettable series of events".

"Irrespective of how this point has been reached, Novak is one of our sport's greatest champions and his absence from the Australian Open is a loss for the game," the statement said.

"We know how turbulent the recent days have been for Novak and how much he wanted to defend his title in Melbourne."

Djokovic's bid to go one one clear of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer with a 21st grand slam title is now on ice.

And if he chooses to stay unvaccinated, it remains to be seen whether he will be allowed to contest Wimbledon or the US Open, while the French Sports Ministry confirmed to Reuters that there would be no exemptions, but said the overall situation might change before the draw in May.

Do I think this is a reasonable way to go about sport and life in general? Yes, I do. I think I have made it clear in previous columns that if you are able to get vaccinated, that you should do so and that if there were consequences to not doing so, that I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Whether Djokovic was told he would be allowed to play or not is still up in the air, but the way he handled himself did him no favours, but was also entirely in character for a man whose name is synonymous with arrogance (as are many a tennis player for that matter).

This whole situation has been a debacle; for Djokovic, for TA and even for the Australian Government who has done its best to take the attention away from other issues like an inability to supply Rapid Antigen Tests to people (but that's another complaint for another day).

For what it's worth, my prediction for the Australian Open champion is world No.3 Alexander Zverev who won his opening match in straight sets.

And on the women's side, I can't go past another Barty Party with the hopes that Ash will help lift the spirits of Australia on home soil.

Information also provided by Justin Chadwick

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