PARIS, France (AFP)— Novak Djokovic claimed Thursday that he was “poisoned” by lead and mercury in his food during his troubled and brief stay in Melbourne in 2022 before he was deported on the eve of the Australian Open.

The former world number one had his visa cancelled and was eventually kicked out of the country over his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID.

He was held in a detention hotel as he fought a fruitless legal battle to remain.

“I had some health issues. And I realised that in that hotel in Melbourne I was fed some food that poisoned me,” the 37-year-old Djokovic told GQ magazine in a lengthy interview.

“I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I had a really high level of heavy metal. I had lead, a very high level of lead and mercury.”

When asked if he believed his food was contaminated, the Serb replied: “That’s the only way.”

GQ said they reached out to Australia’s Department of Home Affairs for a response but were told that they couldn’t comment “for privacy reasons”.

Djokovic will be bidding for an 11th Australian Open title and a record-setting 25th major when the season’s first Grand Slam event gets underway on Sunday.

He insists that he does not hold “any grudge over the Australian people” despite the 2022 controversy. Indeed, 12 months later, he returned to Melbourne where he swept to the title.

“A lot of Australian people that I meet in Australia the last few years or elsewhere in the world, have come up to me, apologising to me for the treatment I received because they were embarrassed by their own government at that point,” he said.

“And I think the government’s changed, and they reinstated my visa, and I was very grateful for that.

“I actually love being there, and I think my results are a testament to my sensation of playing tennis and just being in that country.”

However, he added: “Never met the people that deported me from that country a few years ago. I don’t have a desire to meet with them. If I do one day, that’s fine as well. I’m happy to shake hands and move on.”