“And just a message for our people in Serbia,” Novak Djokovic said at the end of the press conference after his defeat in the Australian Open final to Carlos Alcaraz. “Justice and truth always prevail, may they persevere.”
The winner of a record 24 Grand Slam titles did not explain what he meant. He stood up immediately and left, but this was just one in a series of similar statements Djokovic has made over the past year and a bit, a period marked by mass protests – led by students – following the collapse of a canopy and the deaths of 16 people in Novi Sad.
From a national hero, he thus became almost undesirable – either he appeared less frequently in the media or found himself under attack from tabloids, which labelled him a “failed tennis player” aligned with “students who are harassing Serbia”.
“Of course, I support Djokovic,” said Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who on the Sunday morning marked by the Melbourne final was a guest on the pro-government television station Pink, adding:“Anyone’s political beliefs are their own personal matter.”
With his semi-final victory over the world number two, Italian Jannik Sinner, Djokovic “showed that he is the greatest of all time”, the president said. However, Vučić also knew how to overlook the best Serbian tennis player.
In April 2025, at the height of the student protests, he was reading out letters of support during a televised broadcast, including one from eight-year-old Pavle Jović.
“I live with my mum, dad, grandma and grandpa. I often play chess with my grandpa and I always beat him. I love Serbia very much. I train in basketball and watch the EuroLeague and I love Nikola Jokić. Long live Serbia,” Vučić read.
Yet when the camera zoomed in on the letter, it could be seen that the boy loves Djokovic.
Nikola Jokić, one of the best basketball players in the world, who plays for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA, had previously been on the list of public figures who openly supported the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and Vučić ahead of elections.
Djokovic’s latest message from the press conference in Melbourne sparked numerous reactions in Serbia. It was shared by many athletes, including Red Star Belgrade footballer Nemanja Radonjić, who soon deleted it.
The reason is unknown.
The status of Djokovic, one of the greatest tennis players in history, in his home country of Serbia has meanwhile become a topic for many global media outlets, including France’s L’Équipe and London’s The Times. “Tennis legend sparks fierce reactions with political views” and “Serbia’s chaos replaced by adoration in Greece,” wrote The Times, while L’Équipe asked whether Djokovic had become persona non grata because of his political positions.
Djokovic and the protests
“As someone who deeply believes in the strength of young people and their desire for a better future, I think it is important that their voice is heard,” Djokovic wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on 18 December 2024. “Serbia has enormous potential, educated youth are its greatest strength, and what we all need is understanding and respect,” he added.
This was the first message in which Djokovic addressed the current political crisis, the biggest since the SNS and Aleksandar Vučić came to power in 2012. Although some denied this.
“He wrote an absolutely neutral message, the kind where you wish for peace in the world, and then spins and lies followed that he ‘supported fake students’,” wrote Vladimir Đukanović, a senior official of the ruling SNS, on X.
And yes, Djokovic has never openly and clearly said that he supports the students. But over the past year, he has sent several similar messages.
He dedicated his victory in Melbourne to student Sonja, who was hit by a car during protests in Belgrade. He then wore a hoodie at the basketball derby between Red Star and Partizan that read “students are champions”. “History, magnificent,” he wrote on Instagram after the large protest on 15 March 2025, one of the biggest in the country’s modern history.
The pro-government tabloid Informer then published an article headlined “Djokovic, shame on you”, claiming that he had “supported blockaders and hooligans”. The opposition Party of Freedom and Justice said that all of this was “dictated” by President Vučić, because pro-government tabloids “publish nothing without his order or approval”.
Wimbledon followed, during which he “pumped” – one of the main slogans and chants of the student protests – explaining that it was an agreement with his children. In October, a mural of Djokovic in central Belgrade was destroyed.
At the beginning of November, he spoke out on Instagram and expressed support for Dijana Hrka, the mother of a young man who died in the canopy collapse, who at the time was on hunger strike in front of the National Assembly demanding that responsibility be established.
“The situation in the country in general is such that people are least interested in sport right now… There has been a serious escalation, we are literally on the brink of civil war,” he said ahead of the 2025 US Open.
Before the current political crisis, in 2021, Djokovic also shared a photograph from protests in Belgrade for clean air.
Move to Athens
In the meantime, the Serbia Open tennis tournament, which the Djokovic family had organised in Belgrade for years, was moved to Athens, the capital of Greece.
“All I can say is that, unfortunately, we did not want to move the tournament, but that is how things are,” Djokovic said after winning the tournament in Greece.
He hopes that the tournament will return to Belgrade in some of the coming years.
“From our side there is always that desire and tendency. My brother Đorđe, who runs the tournament, was simply put in a position where the tournament had to be moved. I hope that somewhat better times will come in the years ahead, so that the tournament returns to Belgrade, perhaps even in a higher category – you never know,” he underlined.
And it was not only the tournament that moved to Athens, but Djokovic and his family as well.
“I didn’t plan it far in advance, to be honest,” he said in November, adding:”In fact, over the past two years various things have happened, we made new decisions – both privately and professionally – but that’s life.”
They wanted, as he says, to find the best possible environment for their two children, their “psychological, physical and emotional health”.
(BBC Serbia, 04.02.2026)