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Australian Open: Djokovic, with his head in the final, faced the controversy with his father

2023-01-27T16:28:11.827Z


At a press conference, the Serb spoke about the photo that shows Srdjan Djokovic with a group of fans with pro-Russian symbols.


Novak Djokovic

surpassed American Tommy Paul without major complications, 

reached the record of 27 consecutive victories at the Australian Open

, surpassing Andre Agassi's 26 between 2000 and 2004, and

will face Stefanos Tsitsipas to go in search of his tenth title in Melbourne

and number 22 in Grand Slam tournaments, which would match Rafa Nadal's top mark.

He is, without a doubt, the best player in the history of the Australian tournament and one of the great legends of tennis.

However, at times, the focus deviates from the strictly sporting.

Last year it was the conflict over his deportation for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and now it is the image of his father, Srdjan, together with some fans with pro-Russian symbols that is at the center of attention. .

Srdjan Djokovic, Novak's father, posed with supporters of Vladimir Putin.

At the press conference after qualifying for a new Australian Open final,

Nole explained that his father's attitude was misinterpreted, since no one in his family would support "any kind of violence or war."

"My father, my entire family and myself went through several wars during the 1990s. As he said in a statement, we are against war and we will never support any kind of violence or war.

We know how devastating it can be for a family or for the people of a country", indicated the winner of 92 ATP titles.

"I'm sorry that the issue has escalated so much, but

I hope that people understand that there is absolutely no intention to support any initiative related to the war.

In the video he says "cheers". Unfortunately, some media misinterpreted it."

he added.

"My father was going to the main square of the Australian Open to see my fans after each of my matches to be with them, thank them for their support and take photos.

There were many Serbian flags and he thought he was taking a photo .

with a person from Serbia. That's all,"

he added about the episode that darkened his quarterfinal victory against Russian Andrey Rublev.

Ukraine responds

Although 

Srdjan Djokovic

explained what happened and declared that "

my family lived through the horror of war and we only wish for peace",

in the same way that the tennis player himself has shown himself on more than one occasion against the war that still does not stop,

Ukraine has demanded that the organizers of the Australian Open ban Nole's father.

"His accreditation must be withdrawn. It is up to Novak and his team to address this and resolve it. He must apologize for what happened and condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine,"

Ambassador

Vasyl Myroshnychenko told AFP.

Faced with

this situation, Srdjan decided not to be present at the Rod Laver Arena for the semifinal match that pitted his son against the American Paul.

"I am here (in Australia) only to support. I did not intend to cause such a disturbance, so I decided to watch the game from home," he said in a statement.

This Sunday, in a new Grand Slam final against Stefanos Tsitsipas (they already met at Roland Garros 2021),

the Serbian and the Greek will compete, not only for the first major title of the season, but also for number 1 in the world. 

Big game coming up:

Will Novak's father reappear to cheer on his son?

look too

Australian Open: Djokovic forcefully beat Paul and will play the final against Tsitsipas for glory and world number 1

Australian Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Karen Khachanov and reached the final in search of his first Grand Slam

Scandal in the Davis Cup: a legal battle begins with million-dollar claims between the ITF and Gerard Piqué's company

Source: clarin

All news articles on 2023-01-27

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