Pilic protects Djokovic: "He had no bad intentions"
Former German Davis Cup team boss Niki Pilic protects his former student Novak Djokovic against criticism after the Corona disaster on the Adria Tour.
by SID
last edit: Jun 25, 2020, 07:28 am
"I don't think it is right to blame Novak on my own," said Pilic of the Munich Merkur media group: "Novak has complied with all requirements and wanted to give the sport a bit of normality."
The situation in Croatia or Serbia is "really not comparable to the situation in the USA, for example," said Pilic, who lives in the Croatian coastal city of Opatija. Of course, not everything went perfectly: "Did it really have to be 4,000 spectators? Should it have been tested much more intensively? These are legitimate questions. But Novak had nothing bad in mind. I know him too well for that."
Pilic: "Just beating Novak is too easy"
As a teenager, Djokovic trained for four and a half years in the Pilic Academy in Munich. "He is a perfectionist," said the 80-year-old: "And extreme in everything he does. Apparently he wanted to use his might to prove something that was too early for that. That was a mistake."
According to Pilic, however, the other participants also have to face up to their responsibility: "Novak is not the only one to blame. The other players also all willingly took part. Only beating Novak is too easy."
At the invitation of Djokovic, Pilic was almost there himself at the event in Zadar, Croatia. "But that was too dangerous for me. It was a 300-kilometer drive from my home in Opatija to Zadar. At my age, you don't even do that on the side. I also avoid places with too many people."