Monday's virtual hearing in Melbourne, with Djokovic appealing his visa cancellation, comes amid a growing public debate over his positive coronavirus test that his lawyers used as grounds in applying for a medical exemption to Australia's strict vaccination rules.

The Serb was denied entry when he arrived at Melbourne's airport on Wednesday and was awaiting the court hearing in Melbourne to challenge his deportation.

The case has elicited heartfelt support for the tennis star in his native Serbia.

"Today is a big day. Today, the whole world will hear the truth," Djokovic's mother, Dijana Djokovic, told the crowd in Belgrade on Sunday.

"We hope that Novak will come out as a free man. We send great love to Novak. We believe in him, but also in the independent judiciary in Melbourne," she said.

Djokovic's father, Srdjan Djokovic, said "this is happening because we are only a small part of the world, but we are proud people.

"They can't break us. Novak is the personification of freedom, everything human that one man contains in himself. Shame on them!"

Dijana Djokovic said that the conditions in the hotel in Melbourne where Djokovic is staying are "not humane."

"He doesn't even have breakfast," she said. "He has a wall to stare at and he can't even see a park in front or go out of the room."

Australian Associated Press