“Like Jesus they try to crucify him!” Novak Djokovic father rages at Australian Open drama
Srdjan Djokovic is outraged at the treatment of his son after the nine-time Australian Open champion was detained following the cancellation of his visa.
During the debacle at Australian border control, the 20-time Slam champion’s father claimed “they are holding my son captive.”
Now, Srdjan has taken it up a notch in defence of Novak while the 34-year-old awaits the chance for his appeal to be heard in court on Monday.
“Our Novak is being held captive,” Srdjan reiterated during an impromptu press conference from the Novak restaurant in Belgrade.
“(Australian Prime Minister) Scott Morrison…dared to attack Novak and expel him, but he did not even enter their country.
“They wanted to underestimate him and bring him to his knees, as well as our country. We are Serbs! We are a proud European, civilised nation.
“We never attacked anyone, we just defended ourselves! Novak does the same! With his behaviour and attitude, he shows what kind of people and what kind of country he comes from.
“We are proud of our Novak, our ideal, our light at the end of the tunnel. This is a political struggle!”
Srdjan has been no stranger to controversy in recent years, referring to Roger Federer as “a great champion but not as good a man” and suggesting that Djokovic was unfairly treated when he was disqualified from the 2020 US Open for hitting a line judge.
“This has nothing to do with sports!” Srdjan continued on the Australian Open situation.
“[Novak] fulfilled all the conditions to enter, but he was not allowed to enter and win the Australian Open. People from the Western world who think the world is theirs are wrong!
“We are the majority world! We are part of the libertarian world! We are no less or more valuable than them! Novak has been showing with his works for 20 years that he is a part of the liberal world.
“Jesus was crucified, he endured and is still alive among us! In the same way, they try to crucify Novak and throw him to his knees.”
Many current and former pros have weighed in on the ongoing scandal, including six-time Slam champion Boris Becker and fellow 20-time Slam champion Rafael Nadal.
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