Czech player Renata Voracova, who was ultimately the collateral damage in Novak Djokovic’s visa row, said she felt like a criminal because of the treatment meted out to her.
The 38-year-old Czech was allowed to enter the country after presenting a medical exemption and played in an Australian Open tune-up event in Melbourne.
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However, the Australian government, after detaining Djokovic, revisited her case and cancelled her visa. The 38-year-old was deported on Saturday.
Voracova, who intends to pursue compensation from Tennis Australia, told BBC Russian on Wednesday that the way she was treated was “not right”.
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“I felt a little bit like a criminal, but there was no reason why I should feel like that,” she said.
“I sent all the documents. They were approved. If I knew there would be even a 1% chance of something not being right, I wouldn’t go.”
‘Nothing wrong’
The WTA also defended her, saying she had done nothing wrong. She had legally been granted the medical exemption but was not eventually allowed to compete at the Australian Open.
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“The complications experienced over the past few days… are unfortunate,” said the WTA.
“Renata Voracova followed these rules and procedures, was cleared for entry upon her arrival, competed in an event and then suddenly had her visa cancelled when she had done nothing wrong.
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“We will continue to work with all authorities on addressing this unfortunate situation in an appropriate manner.”
