Adelaide
Novak Djokovic’s former coach, fellow tennis great Boris Becker, says criticism of the world no.1 has begun to go too far. The Serbian star was slammed shortly after arriving to quarantine in Adelaide for emailing a list of recommendations to Australia Open boss Craig Tiley, asking for special treatment for the 72 players caught in hard quarantine.
Those players had the misfortune of being aboard charter flights with passengers infected with the coronavirus, meaning they were not allowed to leave quarantine for training, as had previously been organised with the Victorian state government.
Djokovic defended the use of his ‘hard-earned’ privileges to act in the best interests of the players as a whole, insisting he was not being ‘selfish’.While the eight-time Australian Open winner didn’t get far with his list of requests, his former coach Becker said he had not asked for anything unreasonable.
“The points he wrote down were absolutely right and legitimate,” Becker told Eurosport. “You get the feeling Djokovic can do whatever he wants at the moment, he just gets a lot of criticism (no matter what).
Boris Becker says the level of criticism directed at Novak Djokovic over his hotel quarantine requests was out of proportion.
Boris Becker says the level of criticism directed at Novak Djokovic over his hotel quarantine requests was out of proportion. “In this case, really unjustified. He wanted to stand up for the players, just wanted to create fair conditions for everyone, but was sharply criticised, even by the prime minister of the country.—AFP
