Djokovic on Sinner: "It's clear that his current dominance deserves all the praise".

In recent days, Novak Djokovic has alienated some of the Italian population.

Interviewed by the media at the Australian Open, the Serbian champion had to say the first word that came into his head when mentioning the names of Nadal, Federer, Alcaraz and Sinner.

For Federer, he answered "elegance", while the word "tenacity" reminded him of Nadal, whom he describes as his greatest rival.

For Alcaraz, Djokovic evoked "charisma" and for Sinner, the man with twenty-four Grand Slams went beyond tennis and spoke of the other sport practiced by the Italian in his youth, "skiing".

In recent hours, the Serb has denied having shown any disrespect to his young rival, which he has been accused of doing.

"I saw on social networks that people turned this story into drama, as if I had humiliated him or as if I had deliberately disrespected him.

It's ridiculous. These are the types of interviews where you have to think about something instantly, you only have a few seconds to give an answer.

When Sinner's name came up, I had this image in my head of him skiing. Plus, we both always talk about skiing.

That's why I said the word. It's not that I don't respect what he's achieved in tennis so far, quite the opposite.

It's clear that his current domination deserves all the praise it can get. He has all the qualities I've mentioned for Federer, Nadal and Alcaraz.

But people thought I didn't respect him. That's nonsense," Djokovic elaborated for Tennis Majors.