Novak Djokovic’s wife has slammed the hysteria around her husband, centred on a video that went viral this week of his team secretly preparing a drink for the 21-time grand slam winner.
During Djokovic’s semi-final victory over Stefanos Tsistipas at the Paris Masters, fan footage showed members of Djokovic’s team preparing a substance in a yellow drink bottle, with one moving in order to obscure the filming of them doing so.
The bottle was then handed to a ball-girl who delivered it to Djokovic, in a series of events described by tennis writer Ben Rothenberg as “extremely suspicious” and “dodgy” from other users on social media.
While there is no suggestion that Djokovic or his team have committed any wrongdoing, Rothenberg said the video – which has been viewed more than 15 million times on Twitter – was a questionable look.
Djokovic won the semi-final before falling to 19-year-old Holger Rune in the final, however, he was not quizzed about the drink preparation that has captured the world’s attention, with the video going viral after the Paris Masters.
The Serb will no doubt be quizzed about it during the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, but his wife Jelena has hit out over the furore around the video, insisting Djokovic “will talk when he is ready to talk.”
“This whole nonsense about making people speak about something they aren’t ready because others are inpatient is absurd,” she added.
“Sit a bit in silence. Mind yourself more. Not everything you see is controversial. It could be private. Is that allowed?”
