“Not About Blackmail”: Victoria’s Sports Minister Responds to Novak Djokovic’s Father Amid Australian Open 2022 Fiasco

In most instances on the ATP tour, there are times where it becomes difficult to jot down the scale of heights reached by Novak Djokovic as he overpowered two of his most influential rivals – Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer over the past decade.

At the same time, there were situations where Djokovic was the talk amongst the tennis community for different reasons other than his game. The issue surrounding his Australian Open participation next year was being talked about every person involved, apart from the Serb.

When asked about the same during press conferences at the ATP Finals, Djokovic remain tight-lipped and mentioned that he would announce his decision soon.

Meanwhile, Tennis Australia rolled out the schedule and also announced the dates during which the first set of chartered flights carrying players will land in the continent.

Victoria state’s sports minister responds to Srdjan Djokovic’s criticism

Amidst the Serb’s uncertainty, his father Srdjan recently called the Australian government’s guidelines for the ‘happy slam’ as blackmailing and even mentioned that his son might not play the event.

Now, Victoria state’s sports minister Martin Pakula responded to Srdjan’s criticism and said that the instructions were rolled out to protect the Victorian community.

“If you’re a visiting international tennis player or a visiting sportsman of any kind, it’s about your responsibility to the community that you are being welcomed into. And that’s why we are asking those international tennis stars to follow the same requirements as Victorians are.It’s not about blackmail, it’s about making sure the Victorian community is protected”. 

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Novak Djokovic is yet to confirm his participation in Melbourne

Pakula hopes that Djokovic plays the Australian Open. As a nine-time champion at Rod Laver Arena, the world no.1 would love to take up the opportunity of winning there for the tenth time and also going for a record 21st Grand Slam title.

“I want to make it clear that I really hope that Novak Djokovic gets vaccinated and plays in the Australian Open, but if he chooses not to that’s a matter for him”, concluded Martin Pakula.

With different opinions revolving around his participation, let’s hope that Novak Djokovic will put an end to this uncertainty and announces his decision soon.

Also read: How Novak Djokovic Inspired a Visually-Impaired Fan to Take Up Tennis