Apostoli, Tsitsipas' mother: "Djokovic did it to himself".

Julia Apostoli, Stefanos Tsitsipas' mother, recently appeared on the Russian YouTube channel Mr.Tennis. During the interview, she spoke of the comparison often made between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

However, according to Apostoli, the question doesn't really arise, as Djokovic has much more to his credit: "Djokovic made it on his own. No public relations. In other words, he got into tennis when Federer and Nadal were at the highest level. They were already the bosses of tennis. And Djokovic wasn't a household name, but over time he proved that anything was possible.

Those who condemn him will need time to reassess that. I've had a multi-layered life. I lived in Belgrade for a while, so I speak Serbo-Croatian. By the way, Djokovic, although they write about him that he's Serbian, in fact he's Bosnian by birth. He had a very difficult childhood. That can be explained.

He had to hide in an air-raid shelter as a child. Federer grew up in a happy country: Switzerland. That's also worth bearing in mind. He hasn't known those moments when you have to risk something to achieve something else."