Boycott claims over prize money are wide of the mark: Djokovic

NOVAK Djokovic has insisted he did not raise the subject of a future boycott of the Australian Open as the former world No one played down talk of internal strife within the men’s game and of battles with Grand Slam tournaments over prize money.

Djokovic’s speech to his fellow players at a meeting last week has been a major subject of discussion, but the Serb told reporters that “not much of what you have written is true”.

Reports suggested Djokovic talked of the possibility of players breaking away from the Association of Tennis Professionals to form their own union and of the need to pressurise Grand Slam tournaments into increasing prize money. There were also reports of a possible boycott of next year’s Australian Open.

However, Djokovic insisted: “You’ve taken things out of context. I saw that you’ve portrayed me as someone who is very greedy, asks for more money and wants to boycott.”

Djokovic denied that he had raised the subject of an Australian Open boycott.

He added: “You’re talking about union, boycott, about radical decisions to make so we can get financial compensations the way we deserve it. There were no talks about that.

“We wanted to speak about certain subjects and see how everyone reacts to that and see what opinions are. There were no decisions being made. There were no talks about a boycott or anything like that.”

Meanwhile, defending champion Roger Federer cruised into the second round by beating Slovenian Aljaz Bedene 6-3 6-4 6-3.