After Wimbledon decided to ban Russian and Belarusian players from the event in 2022, many players voiced their opinions on this decision, including world number 1 Novak Djokovic.
Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club has made the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing at the 2022 Wimbledon Championship.
Immediately after the decision was made, all eyes turned to other players competing on the ATP and WTA Tours, as the public wondered how they would react to the situation and whether they would show any support to their banned colleagues, who would be unable to compete at the third major of the season.
Novak Djokovic currently plays at the 2022 Serbia Open, where he defeated Laslo Djere in his first match to advance to the quarterfinals. The Serbian tries to focus purely on his tennis, but as the leader on the ATP Tour, he has to discuss also similar topics.
After his second-round win over Djere, the 20-time Grand Slam champion was asked about the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, and he clearly showed his stance.
"I will always condemn war, I will never support war being myself a child of war. I know how much emotional trauma it leaves. In Serbia we all know what happened in 1999. In the Balkans we have had many wars in recent history."
Despite being affected by the war in his childhood, Djokovic doesn't support Wimbledon's decision, saying that, according to him, "it is crazy." The Serbian doesn't like the fact that, according to him, "politics interferes with sport."
"However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon, I think it is crazy. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good."
Djokovic's position is quite clear, as he showed support to his colleagues from Russia and Belarus and many will now await the reaction from other ATP and WTA pros.