Novak Djokovic breaks his silence on father’s photo with Vladimir Putin flag at the Australian Open

Novak Djokovic admitted that the controversy surrounding his father’s association with Russian sympathizers “gets to me” but insisted that the controversy had been misconstrued.

The 35-year-old Serb will be looking for a tenth title on Sunday, and not even the distraction of a relative posing in front of a Russian flag with the face of Vladimir Putin, next to a man wearing a ‘Z’ T-shirt, has been enough. to derail it.

Djokovic outbid American Tommy Paul to arrange a meeting with Stefanos Tsitsipas, and his father Srdjan stayed away from the stadium to reduce attention to his appearance in a pro-Russian YouTube video.

Novak Djokovic has broken his silence on the outrage surrounding his father, Srdjan

The nine-time champion, who will now have a chance to regain the world number one spot, described his father as “roughed up” by people who expressed their support for Russia outside Rod Laver Arena this week.

“It was unfortunate that the misinterpretation of what happened yesterday has escalated to such a high level,” he said. Of course, it has affected me too. I didn’t realize until last night. So of course I was not pleased to see that.

‘My father, my whole family and I have been through several wars during the 90s. As my father said in a statement, we are against war, we will never support any violence or any war. We know how devastating it is for the people of any country that is going through a war.

Novak Djokovic’s father was spotted with a pro-Russia defender after their quarterfinal victory.

Srdjan decided to stay away from Rod Laver Arena for Djokovic’s semi-final win on Friday

“My father has been going after every match to meet my fans in the main square here at the Australian Open, to thank them for the support, show them respect and take photos. The photo he took was passing through.

“There were a lot of Serbian flags around. That’s what she thought. She thought that she was taking a photo with someone from Serbia. He was mistreated in this situation by this group of people.’

What exactly was said in the video is disputed, but the player insisted: ‘He said ‘Cheers’. Unfortunately, some of the media have interpreted it in a really wrong way.

Djokovic added: “It’s not nice for me to go through this with all the things I had to deal with last year and this year in Australia. It’s not something I want or need.’

Djokovic insists his father was ‘mistreated’ by pro-Russian supporters in Melbourne

Despite all the maintenance of innocence, it is a considerable exaggeration to say that Srdjan could not have been aware of the type of people with whom he associated. “Especially with the kind of things that were being sung, saying to the camera and the shirt he was wearing. He was unobservant, to say the least.

‘I am here to support my son only. I had no intention of causing such headlines or disruptions,” he had stated in a previous statement, announcing his decision to stay away from him.

He made a similar comment about having lived through wars. It was strange that the family took so long to give an answer.

Djokovic had been too good for world number 35 Paul, though he showed signs of turmoil when he let slip a 5-1 first-set lead after getting into a meaningless argument with referee Damien Dumusois over when he should start the match. shot clock. between points

He admitted that the attention surrounding the controversy had made him uneasy in Australia.

That the crowd should have been vociferously supporting a relatively obscure American as they did suggested that the whole episode on Wednesday has affected Djokovic’s position. As he clinched the first set and pricked up his ears to the crowd, boos rang out on Rod Laver Arena.

The problem of crowd behavior inside Melbourne Park reached vaguely ludicrous levels when security questioned a man in the front row who had been seen wearing a ‘Z’ T-shirt on Wednesday night, but had not been part of any impromptu rallies outside of the arena.

The man in question gave his name as Zoran Pavlovic, a US citizen, and his explanation for the outfit he was wearing was that it represented his first name, rather than any support for the Russian military. Without causing a disturbance, he was allowed to stay until the end.

Tsitsipas can also be elevated to number one tomorrow if he wins, and should demonstrate a completely different proposition, regardless of crowd participation, at the Grand Slam, where he has been more consistent. He made it through to the Melbourne semifinal on his fourth attempt, finally defeating Russia’s Karen Khachanov 7-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 in three hours and 21 minutes.

There may be some relief within the confines of the tournament that it is the popular Greek, and not another from Russia or Belarus.