"Everything that happened to Novak is a sports tragedy" says former pro Nikola Pilic

Novak Djokovic's treatment in Australia has been the subject of much debate in the tennis community and former Croatian pro Nikola Pilic spoke on it.

The former US Open doubles champion questioned whether Nadal would have won the event had Djokovic played saying:

"The question is whether Rafael Nadal would have lifted that trophy if Novak Djokovic had played."

It's a valid and fair question to ask as Djokovic was the favourite heading into the event simply due to the immense history he has at the event. He also called the whole situation a sports tragedy:

"Everything that happened to Novak is a sports tragedy because he did so much in tennis. It's a shame, they humiliated him and everything that happened to him for days in Melbourne was a real chase. It's like he's a criminal, and he's a nine-time Australian Open champion. I think they will have big problems in the rest of the year as well."

Pilic then gave a highly problematic comment on Wimbledon and the US Open saying:

"I would like to be wrong, but I think that the English and the Americans will do everything to prevent Novak from playing at Wimbledon and the US Open."