The 34-year-old landed at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport late on Wednesday night, where he was detained by Australian Border Force (ABF) officials.
In a statement, the ABF confirmed Djokovic did not meet the entry requirements and his visa was cancelled.
“Non-citizens who do not hold a valid visa on entry or who have had their visa cancelled will be detained and removed from Australia,” the statement said.
Djokovic was taken to a hotel controlled by immigration officials at around 10am on Thursday.
He will remain in immigration detention on Thursday night after a court appeal against the cancellation of his visa was adjourned until 10am Monday.
Lawyers for the federal Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews said they would not oppose an interim injunction restraining the federal government from deporting Djokovic on Thursday.
Judge Anthony Kelly asked both parties to give him their submissions over the weekend and ordered the Minister for Home Affairs and her agents be restrained from deporting the Serbian star until 4pm on Monday.
Lawyers for Djokovic said they had been advised Tennis Australia would need a definitive answer by Tuesday for scheduling purposes.
But Judge Kelly said “the tail won’t be wagging the dog here”.
During the earlier hearing, Judge Kelly asked if Djokovic had “tennis practising facilities” in the hotel he was detained in and if not whether he could moved to one that did.
Other considerations discussed were whether the matter of his detention and visa would be decided before the Australian Open starts on January 17, and what dates he is scheduled to play.
Tennis Australia and the Victorian government had earlier issued Djokovic with a medical exemption from being vaccinated against COVID-19, clearing him to travel to Australia to defend his Australian Open title.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Djokovic would be deported.
He said it was the player’s responsibility to make sure he had the correct paperwork before arriving in Australia.
“It is for the traveller to be able to assert and back up their ability to come into the country, consistent with our laws,” he said.
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