Tennis: Djokovic’s father filmed with fans holding pro-Russia flags at Australian Open
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Novak Djokovic's father Srdjan (left) and mother Dijana at the Australian Open men's singles quarter-final match on Jan 25.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
MELBOURNE - Novak Djokovic’s father has been filmed posing with fans brandishing banned Russian flags at the Australian Open, including one featuring President Vladimir Putin, in scenes Ukraine’s ambassador slammed as “a disgrace” on Thursday.
The 35-year-old Djokovic booked his place in the semi-finals with a straight-set thumping of Russian opponent Andrey Rublev at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday night.
After the match, a group of fans unfurled Russian flags – which are banned at Melbourne Park – near the stadium and chanted pro-Russian and pro-Putin slogans.
Tennis Australia said four people “revealed inappropriate flags and symbols and threatened security guards”.
Police were called and they were ejected.
A video later posted to a pro-Russian Australian YouTube account showed Djokovic’s father Srdjan posing with a man holding a Russian flag bearing President Putin’s image.
The video is captioned: “Novak Djokovic’s father makes bold political statement.”
Serbian tennis reporters confirmed it was Djokovic’s father and the Melbourne Age newspaper reported he said in Serbian: “Long live Russia.”
Spectators are banned from having Russian or Belarusian flags at the Grand Slam after Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, demanded action when they were seen among the crowd last week.
Myroshnychenko said on Twitter on Thursday that the latest incident was shameful.
“It’s a full package. Among the Serbian flags, there is: a Russian flag, Putin, Z-symbol (supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), so-called Donetsk People’s Republic flag,” he tweeted with a link to the video.
“It’s such a disgrace... @TennisAustralia @AustralianOpen.”
Ukrainian player Lesia Tsurenko, who was defeated in the Australian Open first round, tweeted: “No words to say.”
Another man was photographed by AFP inside the stadium during Djokovic’s match with a pro-war “Z” symbol T-shirt.
Ukrainian former player Alex Dolgopolov, who is fighting in the war, asked on Twitter: “This guy will get banned for life, at least for all Australian events, right? @AustralianOpen.”
Tournament organiser Tennis Australia said on Thursday it would continue to work with security to enforce entry rules, without directly addressing the incident with Djokovic’s father.
“We continue to work closely with event security and law enforcement agencies.” AFP
