Djokovic's uncle believes the Australian Open debacle made the Serbian stronger - "His career has been extended by five, six years"

The fiasco in Australia earlier this year has done little to no damage to Novak Djokovic, and instead could possibly have helped extend the Serbian's career, according to his uncle Goran Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic was barred from participating at the Australian Open due to his unvaccinated status against COVID-19. While he initially received an exemption from Australia's strict vaccination requirement to enter the country, after a lot of back and forth between Djokovic and the Australian legal system, he was eventually deported from Australia.

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Goran Djokovic, an entrepreneur born in Yugoslavia and proud owner of Djokovic Wine, spoke to The Pavlovic Today about his new business venture. The businessman gave a brief insight into the former World No. 1's mindset and thinking. Speaking about the Serb's exclusion from this year's Australian Open, Goran said that Novak Djokovic is always confident of his decisions and "knows what he wants."

“Novak is his own person. He knows who he is. Novak knows what he wants," said Goran Djokovic.

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He continued by stating that the fiasco surrounding his participation in the year's first Grand Slam would help Djokovic extend his career by a few more years.

“The ordeal he went through this year in Australia only extended his career. Instead of maybe retiring from tennis in three or four years, his career has been extended for five, or six years. He is resting his body.”

The former World No. 1 was hopeful of making it to the US Open this year, but had to withdraw his name in the last few days because of the US' policy on unvaccinated foreign nationals being barred from visiting the country.