Novak Djokovic has been ripped into over ‘ungracious’ comments he made after defeating Alex de Minaur at the Australian Open.
Radio host Neil Mitchell has gone as far as calling for the Serbian to be deported from the country again.
The Australian Open record title holder demolished Aussie de Minaur in straight sets in a stellar match to advance to the quarter-finals.
And the comments from each opponent weren’t too friendly toward each other as they spoke to media after the match.
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Speaking to Serbian media, Djokovic referenced comments made by the Australian in 2022 who was critical of his vaccination stance, according to Yahoo Sports.
Djokovic was deported from the country last year after arriving in the country without being vaccinated.
De Minaur said at the time: “Look, Australians have gone through a lot. There’s no secret about that. They’ve had it very tough. They’ve done a lot of work to protect themselves and their borders.
“When you’re coming in, as well as every other tennis player, if you wanted to come to the country, you had to be double vaccinated. It was up to him, his choices, his judgment. Here we are.”
And it seems as though Djokovic hasn’t forgotten those comments too easily.
He told media following the match: “I respect him as a rival, a colleague, as I respect everyone. I have no problem contacting him, congratulating him, etc.
“But I don’t have any other relationship. I don’t have any communication with him. He showed last year what he thinks about me.”
3AW radio host Neil Mitchell didn’t take too kindly to the comments either, claiming they were ‘ungracious’ in his victory.
He said: “[From] what I’ve been reading, Novak Djokovic can get nicked.
“Novak Djokovic … I don’t really care about the tennis but I hope he doesn’t win. In Serbian he has given Alex de Minaur a real spray after the game because de Minaur had a bit of a go at him a year ago when he was banned and then deported.
“And it was obvious Novak Djokovic bore a grudge and was determined to wipe him off the court, which he did. But then he was extremely ungracious in his victory and in a foreign tongue.
“So does he not think that will come back to Australia? It has come back to Australia.”
He laughed while adding: “Should deport him again, deport him for being ungracious.”
SPORTbible reached out to Novak Djokovic for response.
Topics: Tennis, Novak Djokovic, Australia, Australian Open
Jayden Collins