"I'm sad that he was not present in the stands" - Novak Djokovic on his father's absence during Australian Open final
Novak Djokovic admitted that he was saddened by the fact that his father was not in attendance for the 2023 Australian Open final.
The Serb won his 10th title in Melbourne Park by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in the summit clash on Sunday. His mother and brother were in his box during the match but his father Srdjan was conspicuously missing.
Novak Djokovic's father got involved in a controversy after he was seen posing for pictures with Russian fans holding pro-Vladimir Putin flags following his son's quarterfinal win over Andrey Rublev.
Srdjan received a lot of criticism for this and decided not to attend his son's semifinal against Tommy Paul to prevent "further disruption" for the Serb's campaign. He was also absent from Sunday's final, leading to the 22-time Grand Slam champion being inquired about it in his post-match press conference.
The Serb revealed that he spoke with his father and both agreed that it would be better if the latter was not present at the Rod Laver Arena during the final. However, the 35-year-old did see his father after the match and could not help but notice that he looked a little sad at missing out on the opportunity to see his son lift his historic 22nd Grand Slam trophy.
"Yes, we talked. I thought the things will calm down in terms of media and everything, but it didn't. We both agreed it would probably be better that he is not there. That hurts me and him a lot because these are very special, unique moments. Who knows if they repeat again. So it was not easy for him," Djokovic said.
"I saw him after the match, of course. Yeah, he was not feeling his best, let's say, even though he was very happy to hug me and of course with everything. I could see that, yeah, he's a bit sad," he added.
Djokovic added that his father told him it was more important that he felt better on the court and that he would always be with him in spirit. The World No. 5 opined that, while he felt miserable about his father's absence during the final, it was a happy ending for both of them.
Look, it is what it is. I think in the end also what he told me is that it's important that I feel good on the court, I win the match, and he's here for me. If it's going to be better for me as the outcome of the match so that he's not in the box, then so be it. That was the whole conversation," the Serb said.
"In a way I'm also sad that he was not there, present, in the stands. But he was throughout the entire tournament, so it's fine. In the end we have a happy ending," he added.
Novak Djokovic set to return to top of the ATP rankings
Novak Djokovic attained a number of milestones following his victory at Melbourne Park. One of them is reclaiming the World No. 1 ranking from Carlos Alcaraz. The Serb lost the ranking to Daniil Medvedev last June but will make his return to the summit of the ATP rankings after winning his 10th Australian Open crown.
He will start his 374th week as the World No. 1 on Monday, while Alcaraz will go down a spot to World No. 2. Stefanos Tsitsipas, meanwhile, will be third, while Casper Ruud will be No. 4. Andrey Rublev's run to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open will see him move up to No. 5, while Rafael Nadal's second-round exit sees him drop to sixth in the ATP rankings.