Djokovic fans outside his Melbourne detention hotel

Supporters of Novak Djokovic waved flags and danced outside the immigration detention hotel in Melbourne on Wednesday where the number one men's tennis player in the world was being held. Djokovic is locked in a dispute over his COVID-19 vaccination status awaiting a court ruling on whether he can compete in the Australian Open later this month.

Djokovic, a vocal skeptic of vaccines, had travelled to Australia after Victoria state authorities granted him a medical exemption to the country's strict vaccination requirements.  But when he arrived late Wednesday, the Australian Border Force rejected his exemption as invalid and barred him from entering the country.