Novak Djokovic is one of the World’s most decorated tennis players who continues to play and win professional matches in the biggest of tournaments. The Serbian international is currently ranked as the World no.5,
but has been the no.1 for a record of 428 weeks by the ATP. He is the only man in tennis history to be the reigning champion of all four majors at once across three different surfaces.
Nikola Pilic, late former Croatian tennis player and Djokovic’s mentor in tennis was seen making a controversial statement about the disqualification of the Serbian international from the US Open in 2020. Djokovic was seen facing the Spanish international Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Djokovic was the favourite to win the tournament that year considering the sensational form he was in before the fourth-round. However to everyone’s surprise Djokovic was being defeated by the Spanish player who was leading 6-5. In the moment of frustration, Djokovic, in extreme anger, hit the ball to the back of the court and it accidentally hit the lineswoman.
I think his success has hurt the West in a different way: Nikola Pilic
The current world no.5 was quick to apologise for his actions in the heat of the moment. However, the officials deemed his actions to be offensive and disqualified him from the tournament. Reacting to his disqualification, Pilic stated, "I think his success has hurt the West in a different way. By their understanding of things, the level Djokovic has reached was reserved for someone from the West; and then comes a guy from a small country to dominate the world of tennis.
Novak Djokovic’s renowned tennis father further added that, “Had Roger Federer done what Novak did at the US Open 2020, he would not have been disqualified. (The West) has a problem with Novak being the best.” It will be interesting to see how many more championships are left to be won by the Serbian international.
