Novak Djokovic sparked controversy after writing a political message about Kosovo’s independence on camera at Roland Garros, and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Dolgopolov responded on Twitter.

The message of Oleksandr Dolgopolov and Novak Djokovic: “Is it politics or sport?”

“Is it politics or still sport? Hmmm. Welcome to reality,” he wrote Oleksandr Dolgopolov on Twitter.

After a netizen said that Dologpolov is a hypocrite because he ignores the situation in Kosovo, but demands tennis players to intervene in the war in Ukraine, Oleksandr defended himself.

“Wow, you compared a street fight to the biggest war in Europe since World War II. With a front of more than 2000 km, all weapons except nuclear weapons, mass executions of Russians, rape, kidnapping of children, etc. Congratulations, you are stupid. Get off my page, clown” – Oleksandr Dolgopolov.

Dolgopolov’s highest ranking was 13th place in the ATP rankings (January 2012), and he won three titles during his career (Umag 2011, Washington 2012, Buenos Aires 2017). He collected $7,125,771 in prize money. The last match of the player from Ukraine was dated 2018.

His best Grand Slam finish came in 2011 in Australia when he beat then world No. 4 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Robin Soderling, among others, to reach the quarter-finals.

The Ukrainian ended his career in Rome in 2018, when he was defeated even by Novak Djokovic in the first round.

Novak Djokovic: “I am touched by what is happening in Kosovo”

After the match, Djokovic said that he will face the consequences of his actions, if any.

“This is a very sensitive topic. As a Serb, I am deeply moved by what is happening in Kosovo and how our people have been practically pushed out of our municipalities.

As the son of a man who was born in Kosovo, I feel an additional responsibility to support our people and all of Serbia,” – Novak Djokovicquoted by News.ro.

Paris Grand Slam director Amelie Mauresmo commented on the situation during the “Court du soir” show on Twitch.

“The goal, given the current situation in Ukraine, was to ask the players to be neutral. At the moment, we are waiting even for an exact translation, because several versions have reached us. We will see. And we’ll talk to him to find out what he really meant. We are in no hurry. We will sort everything out” – Amelie MoresmoDirector Roland Garros.

According to AFP, around 30 members of KFOR were injured on Monday during clashes with Serbian demonstrators demanding the resignation of Albanian mayors, and Belgrade reported dozens of injured demonstrators.

In recent days, the situation has been very tense in the north of Kosovo, where many representatives of the Serbian community in the four cities do not recognize the authorities of Pristina and are loyal to Belgrade. Serbs boycotted the April municipal elections in these settlements, which resulted in the election of Albanian mayors, whose turnout was less than 3.5%.

The mayors were sworn in last week by Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s government, and calls for calm from the European Union and the United States have been ignored.

Serbia and its traditional ally Russia do not recognize Kosovo’s independence, and Moscow has blocked the country’s application for UN membership. Serbia still considers Kosovo part of its territory.