Novak Djokovic’s father is watching his son’s Australian Open semi-final remotely after being captured on video alongside supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Srdjan Djokovic said he was staying away from the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne to avoid creating any “disruption for my son or for the other player”.
“I have chosen to watch from home,” he said in a statement.
The tennis star’s mother, Dijana, is in the stands for her son’s last-four clash against American opponent Tommy Paul.
Her husband has insisted he was caught up in a pro-Russian demonstration unwittingly.
In footage posted on YouTube, he was pictured standing next to a man holding a flag printed with the image of Vladimir Putin.
The bearded man was wearing a T-shirt with the pro-war Z symbol on it.
But Srdjan Djokovic said he was at the grand slam tennis tournament to “support my son only”.
He commented: “I had no intention of causing such headlines or disruption.
“I was outside with Novak’s fans as I have done after all of my son’s matches to celebrate his wins and take pictures with them. I had no intention of being caught up in this.
“My family has lived through the horror of war and we wish only for peace.
“So there is no disruption to tonight’s semi-final for my son or for the other player, I have chosen to watch from home.
“I wish for a great match and I will be cheering for my son, as always.”
The video showed the protesters were allowed to remain on the steps for several minutes – a situation criticised by Ukrainian player Marta Kostyuk.
“It hurts a lot because there were specific rules that were printed out outside,” she said.
“It’s not impossible, but you’re not allowed to bring out the flags and so on. It really hurts that they were there for quite some time.
“They were there on the court, in the stands as well. It really hurts and I don’t understand how this can be possible.”
Tennis Australia said: “After the events of Wednesday night, we acted swiftly to work with police and our security teams to have the instigators of the protest removed from the venue.
“Throughout the event we’ve spoken with players and their teams about the importance of not engaging in any activity that causes distress or disruption.”
It reiterated its position on banning Russian and Belarusian flags and said it was calling for an end to the war in Ukraine.
