"He will certainly regret some of the statements he made 4 or 5 days ago"- Boris Becker on Novak Djokovic's father Srdjan
In a recent podcast for Eurosport, Boris Becker claimed that Novak Djokovic's father, Srdjan Djokovic, will "certainly regret" some of the statements he made about the World No. 1's visa controversy. Becker claimed that Srdjan's comments didn't help his son's cause whatsoever.
Novak Djokovic flew to Melbourne with a medical exemption, but was detained at the airport for close to nine hours by Border Force officials. They eventually revoked his visa and transferred him to a detention facility in Carlton.
The Serb took the case to court, where Judge Anthony Kelly overturned his visa cancelation and ordered he be freed from detention. Shortly after the Serb was released, Srdjan falsely claimed that his son had been arrested by police in Melbourne.
Novak Djokovic has thanked his fans and returned to training for the Australian Open after a judge quashed his visa cancellation on Monday.
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Srdjan also called Scott Morrison, the Australian Prime Minister, a "dictator," and asked the Queen of England to protect the rights of his son.
Novak Djokovic’s father has called on Queen Elizabeth to intervene in his son’s visa drama, referring to the Prime Minister as a “dictator.”’
This is a lot.
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Becker pointed out that Djokovic's family tends to get "emotional" during stressful times, but highlighted that the kind of statements made by Srdjan were simply not "understandable."
"The father certainly overreached the goal. He will certainly regret some of the statements he made four or five days ago. The fact that statements were made by his family didn’t exactly help him. His parents are very emotional – and his brother too, that’s not always understandable," said Becker.
After Novak Djokovic was sent to immigration detention in Melbourne last week, Srdjan also arranged mass protests in Belgrade, Serbia to support his son.
Boris Becker says Novak Djokovic will be the "favorite" to win Australian Open if he gets through first week
Boris Becker feels Novak Djokovic's preparations ahead of the Australian Open are "worse than ever" before, given what the Serb has been through over the last few days.
However, hailing the Serb's "street fighter mentality," the German highlighted that if Djokovic manages to get through the first week, he will be the "favorite" to win the Australian Open title.
"It’s street fighter mentality! He was in the bunker at the age of 10 when the bombers flew over his city, you have to imagine that. A quarantine hotel is harmless. Nevertheless, his preparation is worse than ever before a Grand Slam. Not only has he not been on the tennis court for six days, he hasn’t been able to eat what he needs and his whole psyche was in court," mentioned the six-time Grand Slam winner.
Boris Becker on his relationship with the Novak Djokovic and why the world number one's father went too far with his comments #AusOpen tennis365.com/tennis-news/bo…
"It’s the worst possible preparation. If he is vulnerable, it will be in the first week of the tournament. If he gets through that, then he’s the favorite for the tournament," added Becker.
If he is allowed to compete, Novak Djokovic will chase a record 10th Australian Open title this month.