sport news Novak Djokovic breaks his silence on father's photo with Vladimir Putin flag at ... trends now

sport news Novak Djokovic breaks his silence on father's photo with Vladimir Putin flag at ... trends now
sport news Novak Djokovic breaks his silence on father's photo with Vladimir Putin flag at ... trends now

sport news Novak Djokovic breaks his silence on father's photo with Vladimir Putin flag at ... trends now

All in an evening’s work for Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open: moving into the final and then insisting that his father’s associations with Russian sympathisers at Melbourne Park had been misinterpreted.

The 35 year-old Serbian will seek a tenth title on Sunday, and not even the distraction of a family member posing in front of a Russian flag with Vladimir Putin’s face on it, next to a man wearing a ‘Z’ T-shirt, has been enough to derail him.

Djokovic outclassed American Tommy Paul to set up a meeting with Stefanos Tsitsipas, with his father Srdjan staying away from the stadium to reduce attention on his appearance in a pro-Russian YouTube video.

Novak Djokovic has broken his silence on the outrage surrounding his father, Srdjan

Novak Djokovic has broken his silence on the outrage surrounding his father, Srdjan

The nine-times champion, who will now have a chance to regain the world number one spot, described his parent as having been ‘misused’ by people expressing support for Russia outside the Rod Laver Arena this week.

‘It was unfortunate that the misinterpretation of what happened yesterday has escalated to such a high level,’ he said. ‘It has got to me, of course, as well. I was not aware of it till last night. Then of course I was not pleased to see that.

‘My father, my whole family, and myself, have been through several wars during '90s. As my father put in a statement, we are against the war, we never will support any violence or any war. We know how devastating that is for people in any country that is going through war.

Novak Djokovic's father was seen with a pro-Russia advocate after his quarter final win

 Novak Djokovic's father was seen with a pro-Russia advocate after his quarter final win

Srdjan chose to stay away from Rod Laver Arena for Djokovic's semi-final victory on Friday

Srdjan chose to stay away from Rod Laver Arena for Djokovic's semi-final victory on Friday 

‘My father has been going after every single match to meet with my fans at the main square here in Australian Open, to thank them for the support, pay them respect, and make photos. The photo that he made, he was passing through.

‘There were a lot of Serbian flags around. That's what he thought. He thought he was making photo with somebody from Serbia. He was misused in this situation by this group of people.’

What exactly was said on the

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