Novak Djokovic insists his father was “misused” by pro-Russia fans he posed with for photos at Melbourne Park and admits the escalating saga has taken its toll during his bid for a 10th Australian Open crown.

His comments followed a statement released on Friday afternoon by Srdjan Djokovic.

His father decided to watch his his semi-final win over Tommy Paul off site to avoid becoming a disruption following the emergence of a video of him with Vladimir Putin fans on Wednesday night.

The group, including a man holding a Russian flag with president Putin’s face on it, had gathered on stairs outside the grand slam complex after Djokovic’s quarter-final win over Andrey Rublev.

Russian flags, the Russian Eagle banner, Belarusian flags, and items of clothing with the Z symbol are prohibited items at Melbourne Park amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, had called for Srdjan to be banned from the Open, but the world No.5 launched a fierce defence of his father, stressing his family was anti-war.

“It was unfortunate that the misinterpretation of what happened has escalated to such a high level,” Djokovic said, following Friday’s 7-5 6-1 6-2 victory over Paul.

“There was, I would say, a lot of conversations with tournament director, with media and everyone else.

“It has got to me, of course, as well. I was not aware of it until last night. Then, of course, I was not pleased to see that.

“My father, my whole family, and myself, have been through several wars during the ’90s.

“As my father put in a statement, we are against the war, we never will support any violence or any war. We know how devastating that is for the family, for people in any country that is going through the war.

Doing what he always did

The Serbian ace stressed his father had been fulfilling his post-match routine of thanking Djokovic fans for their support.

“I heard what he said in the video. He said, ‘cheers’. Unfortunately some of the media has interpreted that in a really wrong way,” Djokovic said.
“I’m sorry that that has escalated so much.

“But I hope people understand that there was absolutely no intention whatsoever to support any kind of war initiatives or anything like that.
“My father was passing through. There was a lot of Serbian flags around. That’s what he thought. He thought he was making photo with somebody from Serbia. That’s it. He moved on.

Another unwanted distraction

“Of course, it’s not pleasant for me to go through this with all the things that I had to deal with last year and this year in Australia. It’s not something that I want or need. I hope that people will let it be, and we can focus on tennis.”

Djokovic was irritated when pressed on his father’s actions.
“There was no intention … he was misused in this situation by this group of people,” he said.

“I can’t be angry with him or upset because I can say it was not his fault. He went out to celebrate with my fans.

“After that, he felt bad and he knew how that’s going to reflect on me, the whole media pressure and everything that has happened in the last 24, 48 hours.”

Djokovic was unsure whether his father would be courtside for Sunday’s final against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“Let’s see,” Djokovic said.

“I hope to have him. I hope he’s going to be feeling okay to be in the courts because I would like to have him there for the finals.”Australian

When asked about the drama on Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese directed his response to supporters of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Djokovic sails into final showdown with Tsitsipas

The Serb ace overcame an error-strewn first set to beat unseeded American Tommy Paul 7-5 6-1 6-2 to seal his place in the decider against No.3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Djokovic will attempt to join Rafael Nadal on a record 22 grand slam titles by earning his 10th Open crown in his return to Melbourne Park after missing last year’s tournament when deported for not being vaccinated against COVID-19.

The No.1 ranking is also up for grabs when he faces Tsitsipas, who lost in five sets to Djokovic in the 2021 French Open final.

“Winning grand slams and being the No.1 in the world are probably the two biggest peaks that you can climb as a professional tennis player, so let’s see what happens,” he said.

The world No.5 continued with the heavy left hamstring strapping that he has carried through his campaign.

In the first set, Djokovic overcame some early stutters and break points to race away to a 3-0 lead, then a 5-1 advantage.

After spurning a set point, Djokovic squabbled with chair umpire Damien Dumusois for starting the serve clock as he was getting a towel from one of the ball kids.

With the crowd behind him, Paul broke Djokovic’s serve on the next point to win the first of four consecutive games that got the set back on serve at 5-5.

But that seemingly spurred Djokovic into action as he rushed through the final two games to claim the set.

“I was really fortunate to hold my nerves towards the end of the first set,” Djokovic said.

“That was the key. After that, I started swinging through the ball more.

“I’m just really pleased to be into another final.”

He cupped his ear with his finger as he marched to his seat, then pointed to his fans and fist-pumped.

The nine-time champion then dropped just three games across the second and third sets to turn a tricky encounter into a straight-sets victory.

“Moments I’ve been working hard for” — Tsitsipas

Tsitsipas will usurp Carlos Alcaraz as world No.1 if he can avenge his 2021 French Open final loss to the Serb.

“I like that number. It’s all about you, it’s singular, it’s one,” Tsitsipas said after extending his summer winning streak to 10 matches as his Australian coach Mark Philippoussis watched on from the Greek star’s box.

A childhood dream

“I’m happy that this opportunity comes here in Australia and not somewhere else because this is a place of significance.”

It was a case of fourth time lucky for Tsitsipas, who fell at the semi-finals hurdle in three of his previous four appearances at what he regards as his ‘home’ major in Melbourne.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Tsitsipas, who was twice up a break in the first set against Karen Khachanov before being pegged back and sent to a tiebreaker.

He was also called for foot faults several times during the first two sets as he repeatedly stepped across the centre service line.

The succession of calls clearly confused the 24-year-old before the chair umpire clarified what the issue was.

Tsitsipas wasted two match points against the 18th seed during the third set before securing his sixth – and most important – win in as many career meetings with Khachanov.

“I thought how hard I’ve worked to get to this position and it takes a little bit more,” Tsitsipas said after the three-hour, 21-minute battle.

“I wasn’t able to deliver that on the third set.

“I was extremely close to getting it, but it’s one of those moments that if you stick around and dedicate yourself even more and if you concentrate on these important moments even more, it pays off quite well.”

Tsitsipas said he was inspired by Marcos Baghdatis’ run to the 2006 Australian Open final – which he lost to Roger Federer – drawing on the Cypriot cult hero’s fighting qualities.

“Unfortunately it didn’t go his way but he’s in our hearts and I always consider him one of my favourites,” Tsitsipas said.

“I feel blessed for the fact that I’m able to play tennis at this level.

“I’ve been wanting for many years now to put Greek tennis on the map, and me and Maria (Sakkari) have done an incredible job, I think.”

Tsitsipas is relishing a shot at revenge against Djokovic after relinquishing a two-set lead against the former world No.1 in his only previous grand slam final in Paris.

“I’m playing great tennis. I’m enjoying myself. I just see no downside or negativity in what I’m trying to do out there,” Tsitsipas said.

“Even if it doesn’t work, I’m very optimistic and positive about any outcome, any opponent that I have to face.”

— AAP