Novak Djokovic counters criticism - "Good intentions misunderstood"
Novak Djokovic commented on Instagram about the reactions to his suggestions to improve the situation of those players who cannot train during the two-week quarantine.
by SID
last edit: Jan 20, 2021, 03:19 pm
He is now making more headlines off the pitch than in his job as a professional tennis player, and at the beginning of the new year, the world number one Novak Djokovic got caught in a verbose controversy that he himself initiated. The Serb countered the sharp criticism of his demands to relax the quarantine conditions for his professional colleagues in Melbourne on Wednesday with pages of justification on social media.
Djokovic wrote that he only wanted to stand up for his colleagues in Melbourne, but this was wrongly interpreted as "selfish, difficult and ungrateful" and that his "good intentions were misunderstood". Sometimes he asks himself whether "I shouldn't sit back and enjoy my own privileges, but it's my way of always wanting to do something for others".
Djokovic still wants to take care
He will therefore continue to look after his colleagues from the lower parts of the world rankings, because "I remember how happy I was as a young player when the established players stood up for us". Now he is using his position to stand up for those "to whom you may not listen so well".
He has had an excellent relationship with Craig Tiley, the tournament director of the Australian Open, for years, wrote Djokovic: "We now had a good brainstorming session via email about how to improve the conditions for the professionals in the quarantine in Melbourne."
Djokovic, who is preparing for the Australian Open like US Open Champion Dominic Thiem and French Open record winner Rafael Nadal in Adelaide, enjoys significantly more freedom there than the players in Melbourne. Among other things, he was criticized for a photo that shows him as a passenger in a minibus. While the other seven passengers on the bus are wearing mouth and nose protection, Djokovic looks out the window with a maskless face. He did not comment on this allegation on Wednesday.