Kiwi ace gives Djokovic big serve over injury
New Zealand tennis star Marcus Daniell has fired a broadside at world No 1 Novak Djokovic, accusing the Serbian of being “incredibly disrespectful” to the ATP tournament in Majorca.
Daniell and his Austrian partner Philipp Oswald were preparing to face fourth seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Simone Bolelli in the semifinals on Friday. But after Djokovic and Carlos Gomez-Herrera won their semi against third seeds Oliver Marach and Aisam-Ul-Haq-Qureshi, they pulled out of the final shortly after the match, with Gomez-Herrera citing an ankle injury.
The withdrawal means Daniell and Oswald’s semifinal was now played overnight — delayed a day. The winners of the match will claim the title.
Daniell doesn’t believe the duo’s reason for withdrawing, saying in his view, it’s more likely to be about Djokovic getting to Wimbledon earlier to prepare for his title defence.
“I really don’t have any respect for that move. If he didn’t want to be here until the end of the tournament, then he shouldn’t have played it, in my opinion,” Daniell said.
“Don’t pull out of a tournament 10 minutes after you’ve made the final. It’s incredibly disrespectful to the tournament and the people he played against, both veteran doubles players who would’ve loved to have played in a final.
“In saying that, I do have to caveat it. with on paper, it will say his partner pulled out. I fully don’t believe that was the case and I don’t have any respect for those sorts of actions,” Daniell claimed.
Daniell said it’s frustrating because it’s the week before Wimbledon.
“If you do lose in a tournament like this, you want to get over to Wimbledon and start preparing. So for the team that loses on Saturday, it will be frustrating, but then again, both teams have a shot at the title.”
The Kiwi, who is one of the doubles representatives on the ATP Player Council, has voiced his concerns to the council and ATP management.
“Technically there is not much we can do because of the on-paper pullout,” Daniell said.
“He [Djokovic] has sort of covered his arse there a little bit. But I mentioned it as soon as it happened to the ATP Player Council and brought it up with ATP management, not to have a go at Novak, but we wanted to play our semifinal and either play the final the next day or go to Wimbledon.”
Daniell claims their next opponents — Gonzalez and Bolelli — are also unhappy with the turn of events.
“Other than not having respect for that decision and those sorts of reactions, there’s not much we can do other than take it on the chin and just add that to the list of things that demonstrate character,” he said.
It’s incredibly disrespectful to the tournament and the people he played against. Marcus Daniell