Novak Djokovic Responds To Stan Wawrinka’s Letter

Published 05/07/2019, 2:57 PM EDT

Follow Us

via Imago

The World Number one tennis player, Novak Djokovic effortlessly conceded his first-round victory in Madrid as he swept aside the American, Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2. And the 15-time Grand Slam champion was unbroken in today’s match.

Recently, the Swiss professional tennis payer, Stan Wawrinka publicized his opinion about the present framework of the ATP board through a letter to ‘The Times’. Wawrinka stated the on-court action has been overshadowed by the other affairs which are taking place in the sport. And also, he claims that everyone associated with the ATP board are accountable for such occurrences.

Novak Djokovic was questioned about his perspectives on Stan’s letter. The Serb appreciated Stan’s move, but however, he presumes that consulting the board or him before addressing the media would have been better. “From one side, I do like the fact that he wants to get involved, he wants to express his opinion. I encourage that in every player,” Novak Djokovic said. “But I did not agree that he went out in the media, posting a letter before speaking out to the guys from the council.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

via Imago

He also provided insights from the discussion which they had between themselves. “And I’ve told him that and I understand his views, of course. There are a lot of fair points that he makes. I think there is maybe a different way that that could be done in terms of communication” Novak Djokovic continued.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The 31-year-old, Djokovic spoke about their relationship off the court and mentioned that both of them have huge respect for each other.“I always had a very honest and open relationship where we said what we think about each other or situation without any problems and that’s what I respect about our relationship. That is why we have always been very good friends off the court as well and as much as we are rivals on the court,” Novak Djokovic added.

As Justin Gimelstob has vacated his post from the ATP board, now there is a quest for his replacement. “The tennis world has to go on and that is how it is. And I think all of us need to be stronger after the whole situation with Justin and everything that was going on in the last four or five months.” Novak Djokovic mentioned. 

via Imago

“There’s been a lot of pressure on the council and just a lot of maybe people stepping out in the media and just speculating and expressing their opinions without really checking first with us. And that’s the part which I personally don’t like.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Up next at the Mutua Madrid Open 2019, Novak Djokovic will take on Diego Schwartzman or Jeremy Chardy. And Wawrinka will play Guido Pella in the next round. 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Mahalakshmi Murali

1,909Articles

One take at a time

Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
Show More>