ATP: Janko Tipsarevic defends Novak Djokovic
The friendship between Janko Tipsarevic and Novak Djokovic has been established for many years. Now Tipsarevic jumped in again with his buddy.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Mar 21, 2020, 08:07 am
If Novak Djokovic has ended his career, as Janko Tipsarevic put it a few years ago, he will hold every record that single tennis has to offer. Of course, the two most important ones too: most wins in Grand Slam tournaments. And the longest time spans at the top of the ATP world rankings.
Well, especially in the latter respect, time plays for Djokovic. He tops the ATP charts, the racket will only be picked up again in June at the earliest. Freezing the points scored in 2019 benefits Djokovic significantly less than his biggest rival Rafael Nadal: For the Spaniard, around 3,000 points remain for the victories in Rome and Roland Garros in the ranking, Djokovic had the final in Rome last year reached the semi-finals of the French Open, previously won in Madrid.
Tipsarevic - "Djokovic is too honest"
The cancellation in Indian Wells had of course hit Djokovic as hard as any other player. Especially since the Serbian industry leader still has a flawless record of 18-0 victories in the current year. The fact that Novak Djokovic left Indian Wells at a very early stage caused astonishment among some colleagues. Taro Daniel suspected, for example, that Djokovic from the players' council had given the information to the other professionals late. Djokovic's buddy Tipsarevic, also someone who quickly made his way home, doesn’t want to let that stand.
"An absolutely stupid and idiotic approach (by Taro Daniel, editor's note)," said Tipsarevic against the Sport Klub portal. “The decision of Novak and the rest of us to leave has nothing to do with the fact that we got a tip from the players' council. It doesn't make any sense to me to attack Novak. In my opinion he is sometimes too open and honest when he talks to others about his plans. "
Incidentally, Janko Tipsarevic is not particularly optimistic about the continuation of the season on grass in June. "We should be abnormally happy if we could play Wimbledon this year."