Novak Djokovic has been furiously called out by Montenegrin politician Ljubomir Filipovic after helping Serbia to defeat Great Britain at the Davis Cup. Djokovic breezed past Cameron Norrie in straight sets to send Britain crashing out of the tournament after Jack Draper was edged out by Miomir Kecmanovic.
Filipovic, who has served in a number of positions in Montenegro’s national parliament, took aim at Djokovic and Davis Cup organisers on social media after the match. He was unhappy that Serbia’s players went onto the court with the song ‘Veseli se srpski rode’, which he claimed is a ‘nationalist song that calls for the Serbian annexation of Montenegro and Kosovo’.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Filipovic wrote: “Kosovo and Montenegro! Outrageous! Djokovic continues to promote his Russo-Serbian nationalist agenda! @DavisCup you should be ashamed of yourselves!”
He followed up with another post, which read: “Shame on you @DavisCup! Featuring a nationalist song that calls for the Serbian annexation of Montenegro and Kosovo!”
Express Sport has contacted the ITF, which runs the Davis Cup, for comment.
Djokovic previously claimed that ‘Kosovo is the heart of Serbia’ in a controversial message at the French Open earlier this year before doubling down on his comments, explaining: “I would say it again, but I don’t need to because you have my quotes if you want to reflect on that.
“Of course I’m aware that a lot of people would disagree, but it is what it is. It’s something that I stand for, so that’s all. You know, drama-free Grand Slam, I don’t think it can happen for me.”
Djokovic managed to secure a comfortable 6-4 6-4 win over Norrie on Thursday night to ensure Serbia’s place in the Davis Cup semi-finals. It was a routine victory for the world’s best player, who hit out at a section of noisy British fans in his post-match interview after being left frustrated by what he felt was ‘disrespect’ towards him.
He was aggrieved at fans making noise between his first and second serves during the match, with Djokovic cupping his ears to the crowd after taking the first set. A number of British fans were then heard banging drums and chanting while Djokovic was giving his post-match interview, prompting him to hit back with a brutal put-down.
“Learn how to respect players, how to behave yourselves, learn how to respect people,” fumed Djokovic, before adding: “You shut up, you be quiet.”
The 36-year-old went on to accuse the fans in question of crossing a line with their conduct, saying in his press conference: “That’s disrespect but that’s something you have to be prepared for in a Davis Cup. It’s normal that sometimes fans step over the line. In the heat of the moment sometimes you react too and you show that you don’t allow this kind of behaviour.
“I mean, they can do whatever they want but I’m going to respond to that. They were trying to annoy me the entire match, so yeah, we had a little bit of a chat in the end.”
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive tennis news.
