Controversial Serbian President Sends Strong Message to Novak Djokovic Amid Nationality Chaos

Novak Djokovic has beaten the best players in the world. He’s gone toe-to-toe with a new generation of killers on the court and come out swinging. But nothing in his 20-plus years on tour could have prepared him for his toughest opponent yet, which is his own government.

This is about a 24-time Grand Slam champion being branded a “false patriot” by the very country that once hung his face on billboards. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić drew a line in the sand and dared Djokovic to cross it. He said on TV Pink:

I wholeheartedly support Djokovic and all those who wear the Serbian tricolor flag, and I eagerly await his success. Against Sinner, he demonstrated something incredible. He is the greatest of this era in a difficult and demanding sport. This is much more than a congratulation; he represents his country with dignity and makes it popular. I told him what I thought, and now I would say it more forcefully. Not towards him, but towards the situation we were in. I will not change my beliefs under the influence of any star in sports, acting, or entertainment.

Djokovic has never needed anyone’s approval to perform. Not the crowds at Wimbledon that once booed him. Not the fans who always seemed to root for the other guy. He’s built his entire career on that mental fortress, that almost unsettling ability to thrive when the world is against him.

Living in Athens hasn’t slowed him down. If anything, reaching an Australian Open final in 2026 — at this stage of his career, with all this noise surrounding him — is as Djokovic as it gets.

What started this whole mess

Go back to November 2024. A railway station canopy in Serbia collapses. 16 people are killed. It’s a tragedy that rips through the country, and for a lot of Serbians, it becomes the breaking point.

Students pour into the streets. Protests spread. By March 2025, demonstrations are burning across 400 cities and towns. Novak Djokovic, never one to stay quiet when something matters to him, publicly backs the student movement. He sees corruption. He sees negligence. He speaks up. That’s when things got ugly.

Pro-government tabloids didn’t waste any time. Overnight, the greatest tennis player Serbia has ever produced, arguably the greatest tennis player the world has ever seen, was being called a “disgrace.” A “false patriot.” Reports surfaced that the attacks extended beyond Djokovic himself, with damaging allegations aimed at his family.

Think about that for a second. This is a man who has carried Serbian pride on his back across every major tournament on the planet. Wimbledon. Roland Garros. The US Open. The Australian Open. Time and again. And now, because he stood with students demanding accountability, he’s being painted as the villain. By September 2025, Djokovic had seen enough. He packed up and moved his family to Athens.

A country split down the middle

Back home in Serbia, people are divided. Half the country sees Novak Djokovic as exactly what he’s always been, a national hero, a man of principle, someone willing to risk his reputation for something bigger than tennis. The other half has absorbed the government’s narrative: disloyal, politically naive, out of touch.

That kind of split doesn’t just happen. It gets engineered. And the machinery behind it, the tabloids, the state-aligned media, the carefully worded statements from officials, has been running at full speed.

Djokovic is currently in Athens and has never hidden his love for the country. He couldn’t have begun his journey there better as he won the Athens ATP 250 title at the end of the 2025 season, beating Lorenzo Musetti in three sets to secure his 101st title.

Also Read: Andy Roddick Explains Why He Doesn’t Think Carlos Alcaraz Served Like Novak Djokovic at Australian Open

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