"Novak Djokovic was again portrayed as the bad guy" - Alexander Zverev 

Alexander Zverev has come out in defense of Novak Djokovic, who has been copping a lot of criticism lately. Djokovic had sent Tennis Australia a letter on behalf of the 72 players forced into hard quarantine, asking for a relaxation of the restrictions, but he received a lot of backlash from the Australian media and public at large.

In his letter addressed to Craig Tiley, Novak Djokovic had reportedly asked for better food as well as fitness and training equipment, among other things, for the players. But while his intentions were noble, his action was interpreted by the media as insensitive and selfish.

In that context, 2020 US Open runner-up Alexander Zverev recently expressed his support for Novak Djokovic while speaking with Eurosport.de. Zverev insisted that the 17-time Major champion was being misconstrued as 'the bad guy' as usual, and that his proposal only reflected the wishes of the players who were in lockdown.

"Novak was just there as a leader and as the No. 1 player in the world and he sent the letter out," Zverev said. "It was not his own letter, it was the points that were asked by other players...He was again portrayed as the bad guy."

Novak Djokovic was only standing up for others: Alexander Zverev

Novak Djokovic at the Adelaide exhibition

A hot topic of discussion this week has been the supposedly preferential treatment given to the ATP and WTA top 3 (which includes Novak Djokovic himself), who enjoyed separate quarantine facilities in Adelaide. There has been criticism about this from players in the Melbourne bubble, and several fans even questioned Djokovic for making suggestions from his own privileged position.

Alexander Zverev acknowledged the bias from the authorities too, while claiming that the difference between the facilities in Adelaide and Melbourne was 'maybe a bit unfair'.

"They have their own training area there and actually their own facility," Zverev said. "They can also go out for five hours, but spend five hours on the field if they want. That is maybe a bit unfair."

Zverev, however, made sure to add that Novak Djokovic was only 'standing up for the others'. The German pointed out that the demands for improving the conditions were not for Djokovic's benefit, but for that of the 72 players in hard quarantine.

"He was just standing up for others. Those were the demands from other players who are in quarantine," Zverev added.

After the media backlash, Novak Djokovic himself issued a statement that his letter had been written with good intentions and that he was only trying to use his influence to help his fellow players in lockdown.