Novak Djokovic distanced himself from the comments made by his father, Srdjan, about several of Nole’s competitors.
In a recent interview with a Serbian outlet, Srdjan took jabs at the behavior of top players Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Srdjan said Federer’s character does not match his reputation as the best player in the history of the game. He also said Nadal began treating Novak differently once Nole started beating the Spaniard. Nadal responded quickly, saying that his relationship with Djokovic (who has had more success against him than any other player in the world) is “very good.”
Whether or not Novak privately agrees with his father, he attempted to clear things up publicly.
“I’m really sorry that his words have caused so much attention, and also that they might have hurt my colleagues in some way, and with whom I have good and fair relationships,” Djokovic said, via Tennis World.
“But as unfortunate as it sounds, I cannot be held responsible for his deeds and for his words because everybody is entitled to their opinion, even my father, and I love him so much, and respect him. He’s helped me so much in my life to arrive where I am but sometimes, you know, people come up with their opinions as they like and me, I have to say that I didn’t have any influence on that. And as I said, I cannot be responsible for it.”
Like I said, it’s entirely possible that Nole agrees with what his father said, but felt he had to distance himself publicly for image purposes. The big irony in all this is that Srdjan said he and his family avoided speaking with the media because they didn’t want to end up in headlines after the media twists words or focuses on only negative items. After what has happened with the one interview he did give, he’d probably be wise to stick to his usual strategy.
