“At no point did Novak Djokovic directly condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine,” Lesia Tsurenko’s coach criticizes Serbian for failing to condemn his father’s behavior in Melbourne

Lesia Tsurenko stirred a huge controversy last week, when she withdrew from the third round of the Indian Wells. Her withdrawal came on the back of some insensitive comments from the WTA CEO Steve Simon in regards to the Russia-Ukraine war. The Ukrainian tennis player revealed that she suffered from a panic attack prior to her withdrawal in the third round.

Lesia Tsurenko’s coach, Nikita Vlasov has criticized Novak Djokovic and his father for the latter’s actions at the 2023 Australian Open. He slammed the world number one for failing to have the courage to condemn his father’s actions in Melbourne. Novak’s father, Srdjan was seen with Pro-Russian demonstrators at the Rod Laver Arena, alongside Russian flags and portraits of Vladimir Putin.

“It was a stupid situation .This is my personal opinion. Djokovic’s father said ‘Glory to Russia’ on camera and then claimed he was misunderstood. It’s not even a human act. If you said so, take responsibility for your words. Djokovic also didn’t have the courage to say frankly that he didn’t support his father’s behavior,” said Nikita.

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Nikita Vlasov lashes out at Novak Djokovic’s stance on Russian-Ukrainian war

Nikita Vlasov also slammed Novak Djokovic for his failure to condemn Russia’s military actions in Ukraine. He believes that the 35-year-old could have really used his power and influence to speak out against the current war situation. However, Nikita Vlasov was left pretty stunned by Srdjan Djokovic’s actions at such a big event like the Australian Open.

“At no point in his interviews did Novak directly condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine, or call for the horror in our country to stop. Would it be a good time to use his status to put an end to all this, to call for peace? No, they support Russia. I was very surprised that this position was expressed so openly, so crudely. And on the occasion of such a competition,” Vlasov added.

Novak Djokovic has issued a statement condemning the war, stating that he will never be pro-war given the conditions he grew up in. “Our family has lived through wars, we know how devastating they are, we will never be pro-war,” Djokovic had said. Novak Djokovic’s father was missing from the stands, when the world number one lifted his 10th Australian Open title in January. The family had planned to keep Srdjan Djokovic away from the stands to avoid any further controversy.

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