Novak Djokovic criticizes Wimbledon’s ‘crazy’ decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players including Daniil Medvedev
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World No.1 Novak Djokovic started his Serbia Open campaign on a high with a very tough, but much-needed win. He defeated fellow Serbian, Laslo Djere in the second round of the tournament in three tight sets 2-6,7-6(6),7-6(4) to book a quarterfinal spot. Djokovic is now 3-2 in the season and will fancy his chances to win the first title of the season.
On the same day, Wimbledon announced that all Russian and Belarussian athletes will be banned to compete at the 2022 edition of The Championships. This was done because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine given the political stand of Britain. Djokovic, after his win, spoke about the matter.
He said that while he will be the first person to condemn the war because he himself has struggled and suffered a lot, he doesn’t support Wimbledon’s decision. He added that it is not the athletes’ fault and that the whole situation is politically centered.
“I will always be the first one to condemn the war. As a child of war, I know what kind of emotional trauma a war leaves. Us in Serbia, we know what was happening here in 1999, ordinary people always suffer, we’ve had a lot of wars in the Balkans. That being said, I cannot support the Wimbledon decision. It’s not the athletes’ fault. When politics interfere with sports, it usually doesn’t turn out well,” the Serb said.
Novak Djokovic moves a step ahead in Belgrade
Coming into Belgrade, a lot is currently riding on stake for Djokovic but he has, for now, cleared the opening hurdle successfully. He was in terrible form before the tournament and was coming from two poor outings at Dubai and Monte Carlo. He looked rusty against Djere too but managed to dig deep to force a third set and get a very important win.
The win will definitely give him the much-required confidence he’ll need towards the business half of the tournament. He will now face another Serbian, Miomir Kecmanovic, in the quarterfinal on Friday.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)