Tennis news: Novak Djokovic’s wife defends viral drink video

Novak Djokovic’s wife has hit back at critics who labelled footage of the tennis star’s team mixing a drink in the stands during a match as “dodgy”. See the vision here.

Novak Djokovic.

The wife of Novak Djokovic has angrily denied claims that her husband’s coaching team had done anything untoward in attempting to hide the mixing of a drinks bottle during last week’s Paris Masters.

A video on social media of the incident has had more than 15 million views since it was posted on Saturday night.

Captured by a spectator at the Accor Arena during Djokovic’s three-set semi-final win against Stefanos Tsitsipas, it appears to show his physiotherapist Ulises Badio preparing a drink in the second row of seats behind the court.

The bottle is then passed to a ball girl to hand to Djokovic on his courtside bench during a change of ends.

Novak Djokovic reacts during the Paris Masters.

While it is not unusual for players to have drinks made for them by support staff, members of Djokovic’s team appeared to be trying to shield their activity with their bodies. This fuelled speculation online that the 21-times grand-slam champion was engaging in dubious practices.

Djokovic has not addressed the footage but his wife Jelena wrote several tweets yesterday (Tuesday) in response to a variety of comments. One of her tweets read: “Not everything you see is controversial. It could be private. Is that allowed?”

She also wrote: “I don’t see anything dodgy. In fact, I see people trying to be private about their business in a world where everyone feels like they have every right to point camera at you whenever they want. Apparently, wanting/trying to be private makes you dodgy nowadays.”

Asked when Djokovic might give an explanation, she replied: “He will talk when he is ready to talk. This whole nonsense about making people speak about something (when) they are not ready because OTHERS are unpatient is absurd. Sit a bit in silence. Mind yourself more. Not everything you see is controversial.”

Originally published as Tennis news: Novak Djokovic’s wife defends viral drink video