Furious Novak Djokovic questions ATP and Australian Open's silence on media's false report on his toilet break
Done with being wrongly portrayed by the media, Novak Djokovic has criticized the ATP and the Australian Open regarding his recent toilet break controversy.
During the Serb's first-round match at the 2023 Australian Open against Roberto Carballes Baena on Tuesday (January 17), Eurosport reported that Djokovic "defied the umpire to take an early bathroom break." The 35-year-old later took to social media to clarify that the chair umpire had allowed him to leave the court and called his name only to inform him that the toilet was on the other side of the court.
In a press conference after his second-round win over Enzo Couacaud on Thursday, the World No. 5 once again lashed out at Eurosport. The 21-time Grand Slam champion asked why the ATP and the Australian Open did not come to his rescue when the media was making a villain out of him. He called for a system to be in place in the ATP and WTA to protect its players.
“Again, I am publicly asking a question: why didn’t the ATP or the Grand Slam come out and explain the situation when they can see that the media are publicly lynching me? This has been happening continuously, there have been many situations like this one – but in the end nothing, it’s all the same," he said.
"At the end of the day, if we are members of this tour, surely there has to be some responsibility towards the players, some sort of protection. But no, ‘you do what you want and roast him as much as you want in media, while we remain silent'," he added.
Novak Djokovic to face Grigor Dimitrov in R3 of Australian Open 2023
Novak Djokovic will take on Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday for a spot in the last 16 of the 2023 Australian Open. This will be the 11th meeting between the two players, with the Serb leading 9-1 in the head-to-head.
However, the fourth seed is concerned about the hamstring issue he picked up during the Adelaide International 1 earlier this month.
"I am worried. I cannot say that I'm not," Djokovic said. "I have reason to be worried. But at the same time, I have to accept the circumstances and try to adjust myself with my team. My physio and medical team has been doing everything possible so that I can be able to play every match.
"There's not much more to talk about. There's two choices — leave it or keep going. So I'm going to keep going. I'm going to try to play and compete with, of course, a great player Dimitrov in a couple of days' time," he added.