“I hope I can rely on my father in the final. I hope he feels good being in the stands, because I want him there,” he said. Novak Djokovic in the absence of his father Srdjan in the semi-final against the American tommy paulwho won 7-5, 6-1 and 6-2, qualifying for his tenth Australian Open final, on Sunday (09:30 am) against Australian Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Srdjan Djokovic released a statement hours before the meeting, announcing that he would not be coming to Rod Laver Arena to avoid conflicts.
The source is in photos where the father of the nine-time tournament champion can be seen, after Wednesday’s game in Andrey Rublev, with Russian fans carrying signs supporting the invasion of Ukraine. One of them was wearing a T-shirt with a Z brand and a flag with a picture of Vladimir Putin.
Novak Djokovic weighed in on his father’s words, calling the matter a “misinterpretation” and stressing that “My father, our whole family, myself, went through several wars in the 90s. Like my father said in the statement, we are against war, we will never support it. We know how destructive it is.”
He wanted to remember that his father always came out to the square next to the stadium to thank the Serbian fans for their support. Regarding the photos and videos with the Russians, he noted that “my father was passing by. And I saw the video and he said hello”, in reference to the fact that some indicated that there were comments clearly in favor of Russian against Ukraine.
“It has affected me, it’s not pleasant after everything I went through last year. It’s not something I want or need. I hope this is over and we can focus on tennis,” said ‘Nole’, who revealed that he had agreed with her father did not witness her in the ‘semis’. Now he wants to return to normal in the final.
The Australian Open is in action
The Australian Open has asked tennis players to avoid any political conflict as much as possible and has publicly promised to better monitor the behavior of fans in this regard.
Source: La Verdad
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