Novak Djokovic has sparked a potential political row after writing the phrase “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia” while calling for peace following his 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(1) victory over American Aleksandar Kovacevic on Monday.
Djokovic used his usual camera signature after the match to write the message: “Kosovo is [heart symbol] Serbia Stop the violence.” Later Monday, Djokovic reposted a photo of his message to his Instagram story.
Djokovic’s comments were in reference to recent unrest and violence in Kosovo following local elections in April. Serbs form the majority of the population in northern Kosovo and still regard Belgrade as their capital. After refusing to participate in local elections, ethnic Serb groups in northern Kosovo clashed with Kosovo police and NATO-led peacekeepers.
After the 1998-99 war that killed at least 10,000 people, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and is recognized by more than 100 UN members, including the UK. But Serbia still considers Kosovo part of its country and has refused to recognize Kosovo as an independent state.
In his post-match press conference with Serbian media, Djokovic said: “I am not a politician and I do not intend to enter into a political debate. This issue is very sensitive. As a Serb, everything that is happening in Kosovo hurts me a lot.
“This is the least I could have done. I feel the responsibility as a public figure – no matter in what field – to support. Especially as the son of a man born in Kosovo, I feel the need to give my support to them and Serbia. I don’t know what the future holds for the Serbian people and for Kosovo, but you have to show support and show unity in this kind of situation.”
Djokovic said tournament organizers had not approached him after he wrote the message. “I don’t know what will happen – I have heard that there have been many objections on social networks – if I will be punished… I am not holding back, I would do it again.
“My position is clear: I am against wars, violence and any kind of conflict, as I have always stated publicly. I sympathize with all the people, but the situation with Kosovo is a precedent in international law… I am very sorry for the situation we are in: Kosovo is our firestone, our fortress, our most important monasteries they are there.”
Cameron Norrie, meanwhile, expressed his frustration at being penalized for obstruction during his five-set win against Benoît Paire on Monday, describing the referee’s intervention as “unacceptable”. After an intense battle with the crowd, his opponent and himself, he rallied from two sets to one down to reach the second round with a 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6 victory -1, 6-4 at Court Suzanne. Lenglen.
At 1-1, 30-30 in the second set on Norrie’s serve, the 27-year-old unloaded with an inside-out forehand that led to an error from Paire. But the referee, Nico Helwerth, called an obstruction on Norrie because of a noise he made after hitting his final right hand, awarding the point to his French opponent.
Helwerth told Norrie he thought the Brit had shouted “yes” during the punt, which Norrie maintained was just a grunt. In the next point, Paire smashed a backhand winner to break serve for the first time.
skip the previous newsletter promotion
The best of our sports reporting from the past seven days and a preview of the weekend’s action
“,”newsletterId”:”the-recap”,”successDescription”:”We’ll send you the recap every week”}” clientOnly>Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertisements and content sponsored by third parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google Privacy policy i Terms of Service to apply.
after the promotion of the newsletter
“For him to be involved in this, to me, made no sense at all,” Norrie said. “What are we doing here? I’m here playing tennis, competing as much as I can, and to do that, a pretty big point. Maybe if I talked to him now he’d think he’s wrong, but I’m struggling and a call like that could sway the game. I got away with it today and was able to get out in five sets. But in the end it was a great call and it changed the momentum of the game.”
Norrie, who also called the referee’s intervention absurd, expressed frustration at the different consequences for referees and players when they make mistakes. He also raised a questionable call during his first-round loss to Dan Evans on Sunday. Evans was called for a foot foul on his back foot crossing the halfway line, which he argued against.
“We’re all competing as hard as we can and I tried my best not to let it bother me. I’ve never been called out for this before. It’s obviously unacceptable, but if you make the wrong decision there are no consequences. If I do something wrong, there are consequences; I can lose the game.”
It was a point of contention in an otherwise exciting match played in a brilliant atmosphere, with the crowd constantly chanting “Allez Benoit” and spontaneously bursting into La Marsellaise. After spending much of his time between 2020 and 2022 without enough motivation on the court, Paire has found some form on the ATP Challenger tour. He led by two sets to one and then by a break in the fifth set, but Norrie rallied to reach the second round.
Jack Draper was forced to retire early in his first-round match with a shoulder injury, the latest in a series of setbacks that have kept Britain’s top men’s talent off the court. Draper has been injured in his last three Grand Slam tournaments, withdrawing from two of them.
“I hate being the guy who’s really hurt,” he said. “It’s tough. Mentally, it’s extremely tough, tougher than playing and almost losing. Because you just came back fighting injuries. I put in a lot of work. I had a good week last week and I’m coming here optimistic, but it’s not meant to be like that. I feel a little mentally destroyed.”
There’s little doubt about Draper’s potential, but he just hasn’t been able to compete on a regular basis. After suffering an injury during his Australian Open first-round match against Rafael Nadal, he did not compete again until Indian Wells in March, where he reached the fourth round before retiring with injury abdominal He then missed five weeks of the clay court season with a hip injury.
“It’s hard to be confident in my body right now. Honestly. I’m 21, I just need a little confidence and a little breakthrough,” she said. “I’m sure I will. My tennis is there, I want to be one of the best players in the world, it’s just my body that’s letting me down a bit. But it will come.”
