The great thing about sport is that it can bring people together. In most countries, top athletes are more influential than politicians. So it sure was nice to see the laughs and the love between the Serbs and the Croats prior to their DC tie. This is the first time the countries are meeting since the countries split under not so super-happy-fun-times circumstances.
Unfortunately, the fans weren't paying attention. On the way to his straight set win over Lubey, Nole had endure some retardedly disrespectful behavior from the Croat fans. They refused to stand for the Serbian national anthem and chanted "Kill the Serb" during the match.
I'm always flabbergasted when fans do this shit because it seems so shortsighted. Don't they realize that it does nothing to pump up their own player? It sure as hell distracted Lubey:
“It was strange to see guys, the crowd, whistling on Serbian anthem and the players and so loud on ours. You could feel the tension; you could feel the emotion so it was really difficult for me to play the first couple of games.”
Nole said the jeering calmed down once it was clear that he was going to win the match. Afterward and during the rubber, he stayed calm and classy:
Djokovic was just pleased to come out with a win. “It’s sensitive circumstances that we play in and considering the situation between the two countries that they had 20 years back and, of course, it’s still very fresh [in the mind],” he said.
“We are professional athletes and tennis players and we don’t involve politics in sport. We want to perform our best four the country and win; that’s what I did today and in the end I got a nice appreciation from the crowd for what I have done today so this is what I remember from the match.”
