In Australia, a scandal flares up with a 21-time Grand Slam champion.
The Russian flag caused a scandal on the first day of the Australian Open. In the first round, Kamilla Rakhimova played with Ukrainian Katerina Beindl. A group of four men appeared in the stands during the match and stretched out the Russian flag. According to Australian media, because of this, Ukrainian fans called security and the police.
As a result, on Tuesday morning, Tennis Australia banned spectators from bringing the flags of Russia and Belarus to the tournament grounds.
But this did not stop the Serbian fans. Shortly after Djokovic’s match with Russia’s Andrey Rublev, in which Novak won a landslide victory and advanced to the semi-finals of the Australian Open, Serbian fans gathered at the central stadium of the tournament and shouted about the friendship between Russia and Serbia.
They had a Russian flag with a portrait of President Vladimir Putin, as well as a DPR flag. In addition, one man was wearing a T-shirt with the letter Z.
What’s up with Djokovic?
Last summer, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) decided not to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to Wimbledon
This decision was criticized not only by the main tennis organizations in the world – the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) – but also by the world’s first racket Novak Djokovic.
“I will always condemn war as a “child of war.” We all know what happened in Serbia in 1999, I know what an emotional trauma it can leave. However, I cannot support the decision of the organizers of the tournament in Wimbledon, I think it is crazy. Tennis players have nothing to do with military operations. When politics interferes in sports, it does not lead to good results,” Djokovic said.
And in October last year at the Astana Open, held in Kazakhstan, Novak, having defeated the Chilean Christian Garin 6:1, 6:1, took the microphone and addressed the audience in Russian.
Hello, Kazakhstan! It’s a pleasure to be here with you! Thanks for your support! I’m just learning I love you! Rakhmet!
And just this month, Djokovic congratulated his subscribers on Orthodox Christmas on social networks.
“Merry Christmas wishes to all Orthodox nations,” Djokovic wrote in Serbian. “Merry Christmas,” the tennis player added in Russian.
So what? Because of this scandal?
No, not because of this. In yesterday’s story, Novak’s father showed himself, literally “fighting” with the whole world a year ago because of his son’s fake vaccination certificate, which caused the Serb to be deported from Australia.
Srdjan Djokovic posed with the fans who brought the same flags of Russia and the DPR to the Australian Open.
Djokovic Sr. was caught on video in which he was with a man in a T-shirt with the letter Z and the inscription “Where we are, there is Russia”, holding a Russian flag with a portrait of President Vladimir Putin in his hands.
In addition, moving away from the group of spectators, Djokovic Sr. said: “Long live the Russians.”
It is reported that the organizers of the tournament have already appealed to the Serb’s team and family with a demand to refrain from political statements, and possible sanctions against the Serb and his team have not yet been reported.
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