Boris Becker defends Novak Djokovic and his intentions

Friday, 22 January 2021 at 08:30

Former world no. 1 and Novak Djokovic's coach Boris Becker defended his former pupil and his intentions associated with the Melbourne quarantine and gathered in the letter addressed on Craig Tiley.

With more than 70 players restricted to their hotel rooms only and other issues related to the quarantine period, Novak urged Tiley to improve the conditions and allow the players to train in a safe bubble. The Serb was widely criticized for a list of requests, and it's safe to say that the authorities didn't like his proposal at all.

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"The points he wrote down were absolutely right and legitimate. You get the feeling Djokovic can do whatever he wants at the moment; he just gets a lot of criticism. In this case, really unjustified. He tried to stand up for the players and create fair conditions for everyone but was sharply criticized, even by the country's prime minister. I think it's vital for Australia and primarily Melbourne that the players come to Melbourne. It's good for the city and for the economy.

The country and the city benefit, and then you have to treat the players more fairly and respectfully. There are 70 players affected, out of a field of 128 players. A third is certainly in adverse conditions in Australia. When they come out of quarantine, they haven't even been out in the fresh air, haven't played tennis. No matter how many steps they've taken in the room, they haven't played ball, and then they have a week to prepare for best-of-five matches, at least for the men, in the hot conditions.

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That task doesn't really work. All the winter preparation was for nothing. You have to ask yourself whether these are fair conditions for everyone. As an organizer, you have to ask yourself: is this right, is this reasonable?" Boris Becker said.