MIKE DICKSON: Djokovic back in the public relations mire again thanks to his father’s celebrations

Who needs enemies when you have friends and family like Novak Djokovic? Just when it seemed all distractions had disappeared from his quest for a 10th Australian Open title, his father Srdjan shows up to pose with Russian nationalist supporters in front of a flag bearing the face of Vladimir Putin.

Djokovic, who faces American outsider Tommy Paul in the second of Friday’s semifinals, has put last year’s deportation fiasco behind him. A three-week charm offensive with an Australian audience had taken care of that.

Skeptical talk about how injured he really was earlier in the tournament was also fading in the rearview mirror. Yet thanks to his father’s late-night celebrations with the extreme fringe of his Serbian fanbase so eager to show his kinship to Mother Russia, he’s back in the PR quagmire.

Novak Djokovic’s father Srdjan is pictured holding a Russian flag at the Australian Open.

He appeared in a YouTube video posted by pro-Kremlin activist Simeon Boikov, who is the subject of an arrest warrant for the alleged assault of a 76-year-old Ukrainian during a recent rally for the country in Sydney.

It shows Srdjan posing next to the flag and a supporter shouting “Long live Russia!”. Djokovic Snr is shown being warmly welcomed by fans of his son and, according to YouTube translation, he appeared to say something similar.

That led to calls from the Ukrainian ambassador to Australia to ban Srdjan from attending the semi-final. “It would be a good idea not to let him in,” Vasyl Myroshnychenko told the Herald Sun.

“I don’t know why he would say that considering what the Russians are doing in the Ukraine, how many people they have killed, tortured, raped and all the summary executions that have occurred.”

Srdjan was particularly outspoken last year when his son was detained and later deported for not having been vaccinated, accusing the Australian state of trying to ‘murder’ his offspring.

A year later, he is still useless to his son’s cause. Rolling their eyes, tournament officials were forced to issue a statement warning him and others of his behavior, but stopped short of revoking his pass.

Novak Djokovic (left) with Srdjan in 2017. After watching his son’s quarterfinal victory at the Australian Open, he was seen posing with a Russian flag with Vladimir Putin’s face on it.

Australian Open entry regulations expressly prohibit any show of support for Russia or Belarus, and four spectators were expelled on Wednesday night.

The condemnation of the photo of Djokovic Snr did not wait on the part of the Ukrainian players. Former doubles world number 1 Alex Dolgopolov, who now fights on his home soil, posted on social media: ‘Absolutely disgusting. Politics must be kept out of sports, they said. These people have no business in tennis tournaments.

Marta Kostyuk posted angry emojis on her Twitter, while her compatriot Lesia Tsurenko added: “There are no words to say.”

A fan was seen at the Australian Open wearing Russia’s ultra-nationalist ‘Z’ war symbol

Djokovic’s spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.

It should be said that when the invasion first happened, the 35-year-old Serb contacted former Ukrainian player Sergiy Stakhovsky, who has since taken up arms, asking how he could be of help, including an offer of financial aid. .

In the other men’s semifinal on Friday, Stefanos Tsitsipas will face Russian Karen Khachanov.

A Russian-born player will take on one from Belarus in the women’s final as the broader geopolitical issues mount. Elena Rybakina, who was born in Moscow but switched allegiances to represent Kazakhstan in 2018, will have to counter the high-volume power of Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.

Srdjan Djokovic and his wife Dijana watch Novak during his quarterfinal win over Andrey Rublev on Wednesday

A group of fans chanted “Russia, Serbia” in a reminder of the two countries’ close cultural ties.