Advertisement

'Happened to them': Djokovic father's accusation against Federer and Nadal

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·3-min read
Novak Djokovic (pictured left) checking on a lines woman after he accidentally hit her with a ball and (pictured right) Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer training.
Novak Djokovic's father has slammed his son's default at the US Open and claimed Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer (pictured) haven't been disqualifed for similar incidents. (Getty Images)

Novak Djokovic's father has continued his sledge on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal after raising his son's disqualification for the US Open.

Srdjan recently hit out at Federer and Nadal after he claimed the World No.1 Djokovic had surpassed them in the tennis world.

AMAZING: Ash Barty makes World No.1 history after Naomi Osaka meltdown

'WHAT ON EARTH': Tennis world in disbelief over Naomi Osaka meltdown

Djokovic was recently celebrating his 18th Grand Slam win at the Australian Open and surpassing Federer as the male with the most weeks as World No.1.

This prompted his father to claim his son can lose but only because: "He allowed his opponent to beat him."

But Srdjan hasn't stopped the brazen swipes at the tennis community after claiming Federer and Nadal are treated differently.

He claimed Novak is treated differently to his two greatest rivals, which was shown when he was disqualified from the US Open last year when he accidentally hit a lines person with a ball in a moment of frustration.

Srdjan accused Nadal and Federer of similar acts in the past, but have not been penalised.

"I do not support what happened," he told B92 TV.

"It was an accident, a woman was hit.

"It happened to Federer, Nadal, and others, but no one was disqualified like Novak. Not only do they not have respect for the best in the world, but the opposite."

Srdjan drags Federer and Nadal in DQ argument

Federer and Nadal have never been disqualified for such an incident.

Srdjan may have been referring to the occasion when Federer accidentally hit a young ball kid during a match at the Australian Open several years ago.

Federer didn’t hit the ball in frustration, but swung his racquet behind his back and accidentally clobbered the ball kid.

Rafael Nadal (pictured left) lifts up a ball kids hat to make sure she is OK after he accidentally hit her with the ball.
Rafael Nadal (pictured left) makes sure a ball kid is okay after he accidentally hit her with the ball in his second round match at the 2020 Australian Open. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images)

Surprisingly, despite the freak accident, Federer didn’t receive a code violation.

Nadal famously accidentally hit a ball girl in the head at the 2020 Australian Open, but it was after a wayward return of serve.

The Spaniard then rushed over to the girl and gave her a kiss on the cheek to apologise.

Srdjan also said he hopes his son can extend his head-to-head record against Federer if the Swiss maestro plays tennis into his 40s.

Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.