Nearly a year after getting deported over his COVID-19 vaccine status, Novak Djokovic is back in Australia in pursuit of a record-extending 10th grand slam title at Australian Open.

Tennis Australia confirmed Wednesday that Djokovic landed in Adelaide the previous night to compete in the 2023 Adelaide International, which begins on Sunday, and the Australian Open which begins early next month. 

"Novak is welcome in Australia," Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said at a news conference Tuesday. "I think as we speak he has landed in Adelaide, and he's going to be the player to beat (at the Australian Open) again."

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Upon landing in Melbourne early last year, Djokovic’s visa was canceled by border officials who said he did not qualify for a medical exemption from Australia’s rules for unvaccinated visitors. 

He was previously exempted from the tournament’s vaccine rules because he had COVID within the previous six months. He later won an appeal to stay for the tournament, but Australia's immigration minister then revoked his visa. 

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Three federal court judges ruled in favor of the immigration minister’s right to cancel Djokovic’s visa, and he was deported. 

Djokovic has openly defended his choice not to get the vaccine, regardless of what tournaments in 2022 would allow him to compete. He competed at the French Open in May, when he lost in the quarterfinals to Rafael Nadal, and won Wimbledon for his 21st Grand Slam title. 

The Serbian tennis pro was not able to travel to the U.S. to compete at the U.S. Open because of travel restrictions, not because of tournament rules. 

Tiley said Tuesday that he anticipates Djokovic will be well-received by the Australian fan base. 

"We’re a very well-educated sporting public, particularly those who come to the tennis. They love their tennis, they love seeing greatness, they love seeing great athleticism, great matches. And I have a lot of confidence that the fans will react like we hope they would react and have respect for that."

The Australian Open begins in Melbourne on Jan. 16. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A former Little Rock, Arkansas, teacher's assistant pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to three counts of the production of child pornography after being indicted by a grand jury in 2021.

Augustus "Gus" Shenker, 22, was arrested in May 2021 after the Federal Bureau of Investigations received a tip about seven child pornography videos being stored in an online directory. The location in which the videos were stored was created by a person whose email address contained Shenker's first and last name, according to the Office of the U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Arkansas.

The FBI discovered that Shenker was a teaching assistant at Miss Selma’s School, an early education school with students from 18-months-old to fifth grade.

The agency received a search warrant, executed a search of Shenker’s home and seized his cell phone. He admitted to having a problem with child pornography years prior, but claimed he no longer viewed the material.

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Shenker also told investigators that he had established the online storage, the attorney’s office said.

The school said in a statement that it was cooperating with investigators and that Shenker was no longer employed.

Authorities located six videos from Shenker’s home, which were created in March 2021, that showed Shenker inappropriately touching children in a school classroom.

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A hidden folder was also found on Shenker’s phone that contained 19 videos also recorded at the school. Thousands of images of child abuse were also discovered on Shenker’s phone and other devices, according to the attorney’s office.

A grand jury returned an indictment against Shenker on June 1, 2021, for 22 counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. 

Shenker pleaded guilty to three counts of production of child pornography on Tuesday.

He is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. According to court records, the minimum sentence for his charges is 15 years and the maximum is 30 years with five years of supervision upon release, which will require him to register as a sex offender.