Djokovic 'hurt' by father's absence from his box during Australian Open final

| by Sebastian Dahlman

The 2023 Australian Open wasn't an easy tournament for Novak Djokovic and his family as they faced number of challenges in Melbourne.

First, the now 22-time Grand Slam champion struggled with a left hamstring injury. Then, he was caught up in a water bottle controversy, and eventually, Djokovic's father Srdjan appeared on the pictures with fans, who were holding Russian flags.

Both have explained the incident since, but because of it, Srdjan Djokovic was not present in the Rod Laver Arena during his son's semifinal and also final match. Novak Djokovic, who won his 10th Australian Open title spoke about his father's absence after the match.

"Unfortunate misinterpretation, we are against the war" - Djokovic on his father's incident
"Unfortunate misinterpretation, we are against the war" - Djokovic on his father's incident

"We both agreed that it would probably be better that he's not there. That hurts him and me a lot because these are special, unique moments that who knows if they are repeated again."

"It was not easy for him. I saw him after the match and he was not feeling his best, let's say. He was happy to hug me, but I could see he was a bit sad. In the end we have a happy ending."

"Be really careful" - Australian Open director Tiley to Djokovic family
"Be really careful" - Australian Open director Tiley to Djokovic family

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