Interviewed by The Team, Viktor Troicki, 35, a young retiree and current captain of the Serbian Davis Cup team, does not have enough strong words to describe what the Australian authorities are doing to his former partner Novak Djokovic, one year his junior.
“It’s a nightmare for sport,” said Troicki, executioner of Mickaël Llodra in the decisive fifth match of the Davis Cup final in Belgrade in 2010. Never any athlete, not just a tennis player but one of the greatest champions in the world. , was not treated that way, tortured in some way. It’s a huge scandal, which has nothing to do with tennis or sport, it’s just political. The Australian Federal Government has decided to show its power and set an example. Novak was given an exemption to go there, everything was clear, and that it’s no longer valid now, it’s a joke. “
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According to Troicki, the conditions of Djokovic’s stay pending the examination of his appeal until Monday, do not meet their standards. The former world 12th at his best says he spoke by phone with Djokovic:
“Before it took off and then up to an hour after it landed. Then he no longer had a phone. They cut him off or whatever, but he wasn’t reachable for a long time. Since he left the airport, I haven’t had him but spoke with members of his team. They are not with him. They were separated. All I know is he’s in crappy conditions in a hotel with refugees or migrants. That’s not really how you should treat a champion of his caliber. “
Suspended for a year in 2013 for having evaded an anti-doping blood test in Monte-Carlo, Troicki is not kind with the organization of world tennis, nor with the Australian Open. “Three players who had the same exemption as him were able to enter the country, which he was prohibited from. It proves the number of flaws in the way this is all handled. (…) I am dismayed that there was no press release from ATP or the Australian Open, nor any public support for Novak in such a situation. The ATP is an organization supposed to defend the players, it should have said or done something. “
Does Djokovic have his share of responsibility in the over-media coverage of his arrival on site? “He didn’t do anything wrong, he didn’t provoke anyone,” Troicki said. He had an exemption, period! He was allowed to go there, he thought everything was fine and there would be no problem with him. The sequence of events is nonsense. “