After defeating Alexander Zverev to advance to reach the final four of the ATP Finals, Novak Djokovic said tennis authorities could adopt clearer policies on domestic abuse in light of allegations made against the U.S. Open runner-up by his ex-girlfriend.
Djokovic pulled out his own big serves in the important moments to reach the semifinals for the ninth time, notably in the tiebreaker when he recovered from a 2-0 deficit.
The top-ranked Djokovic will now play Dominic Thiem as he goes for a record-tying sixth title at the season-ending tournament, and a first since 2015.
However after the match the Serb called for more clarity over tennis' domestic violence policy while pledging his support for Zverev, who has repeatedly denied the allegations made by Olga Sharypova.
In an interview with Racquet Magazine, Sharypova said Zverev was emotionally and physically abusive to her. She also stated that she does not intend to press charges against the German.
"We don't know what happened truly. I mean, we are going to find out obviously," world number one Djokovic told reporters after his 6-3 7-6(4) win over Zverev at the O2 Arena.
"I have known Sascha for a very long time since he was very young. I always had a great relationship with him. Very nice guy. I have a lot of respect for him, his family.
"So I was sad to hear and to know he's going through something like this. I don't know what happened. Of course, I mean, obviously I'm not supporting any kind of violence. So we will have to wait and see."
Djokovic was asked whether the ATP should have a set policy regardless of legal proceedings.
"Yeah, I mean, why not? Probably it should be there in place. But I guess it wasn't developed and it wasn't there because we just did not have the cases like this," said Djokovic, who used to be president of the ATP's player council before he resigned earlier this year.
"I have not heard that we had maybe top players involved in such instances. So maybe that kind of case will in a way inspire ATP to do something like that."
World number seven Zverev said he had nothing to hide.
"The players know what's going on," the 23-year-old told reporters.
"What else can I say? I have said everything that I can. It's very unfortunate that these kind of false allegations can put such damage and put the attention away from the sport, but it's the world we live in right now unfortunately.
"There is nothing more that I can do."
Djokovic's comments were slammed by some fans and members of the media, with many believing he should have been stronger on his stance.
Many were also fuming that Djokovic never mentioned the alleged victim.
https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/1329834549979852802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
In the other semi-final no. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal will take on no. 4 Daniil Medvedev in the second semifinal. Nadal is trying for the 10th time to win his first ATP Finals crown.
Medvedev warmed up by blowing away Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-3 late Friday in the empty O2 Arena, topping their group with three wins in six sets.
Medvedev hit 31 winners against Schwartzman and broke the Argentine three times.
The Russian has gone 3-0 in group play after going 0-3 on debut last year.
"I was playing great in previous matches and it's always good to stay undefeated for the confidence," Medvedev said.
Nadal has a 3-0 record against him but the last two matches were battles: Nadal won their 2019 U.S. Open final in five sets, and came from 5-1 down in the last set of their ATP Finals group match a year ago.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow," Medvedev said.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.