"Novak Djokovic should take accountability"- Fans back journalist's take as Serb's superfan continues attack on Jannik Sinner

Tennis fans rallied behind tennis journalist Jon Wertheim's criticism of Novak Djokovic's superfan. The fan had spoken against Jannik Sinner following the passing of his aunt.

Sinner, who recently won the 2024 US Open, dedicated his win to his ailing aunt. It was reported earlier this week that the Italian's aunt had passed away due to an undisclosed illness.

Following this news, Djokovic's superfan, Pavvy G, a critic of Sinner since the Italian's recent dope test controversy, took to social media to condemn the World No.1 for attending events and playing in tournaments while his aunt was unwell. The fan had written in a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter),

"With his Aunty so poorly and now unfortunately passed away, he didn't missed a single event for Gucci or the Olympics promotion in the last week and is now in Beijing. A sad loss for him and his family but sometimes missing sponsors obligations is important when family involved?"

This post did not sit well with journalist Jon Wertheim, who expressed his disapproval of the superfan's behavior on social media. He questioned whether athletes should step in and address fans who, he said, are being "prominent" and "offensive". Wertheim wrote,

"This is a legit question, not limited to tennis....what level of responsibility - if any - do today's athletes bear w/r/t their more prominent/vocal/offensive stans? ...Would a public repudiation to this kind of rot do any good?"

A number of tennis fans supported Wertheim's stance and shared their opinions on the same on social media.

One fan suggested that Novak Djokovic should take responsibility and denounce the superfan, especially since he had previously acknowledged and thanked him for his support.

"Well @jon_wertheim, normally I wouldn’t say it’s the athlete’s responsibility, but in this case Novak himself has publicly acknowledged and praised this particular individual and thanked him for his loyalty. Because of that I do think he should take some kind of accountability," a fan posted.

Another fan also opined that players bore responsibility in such cases.

"If they have publicly acknowledged and supported their fans knowing very well how toxic and vile they are, then they do bear responsibility," a fan wrote.

"He’s a grub. And those players that give him more publicity are grubs too," a fan posted.

Some fans added that Novak Djokovic's wife, Jelena, follows Pavvy G on social media and that he had once sat in the Serb player's box during a match.

"“Would a public repudiation to this kind of rot do any good?” YES. But the problem with this particular lowlife is that Jelena Djokovic follows him and he sat in Djokovic’s player box one year. So they’re basically condoning it. Not surprising," a fan wrote.

"Novak should behave like a responsible athelete ask the clown PavvyG to stfu," a fan posted.

Here are some more fan reactions:

"People don’t wanna admit it to themselves but athletes (no matter how successful and offline they are) are aware of the discourse surrounding them and viral posts tend to make their way up to them so they do have a responsibility to address it when it gets this bad," a fan wrote.

"Did you know that this person is followed by Nole and his wife and that he has been openly praised by Novak? So, in this case there is also a level of responsibility on the part of the player!" a fan posted.

Fans had previously denounced the superfan for the now-deleted post as well.

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Novak Djokovic & Jannik Sinner will next begin their Asian swing

Novak Djokovic (L) & Jannik Sinner (R) [Source: Getty Images]

After suffering a third-round defeat to Alexei Popyrin at the 2024 US Open, Novak Djokovic competed at the Davis Cup, where he played a crucial role in helping Serbia secure a victory over Greece. This win secured his country's spot in the tournament's qualifying round in 2025.

The former World No.1 will next compete at the Shanghai Masters, a tournament he has won four times. This return to the ATP Masters 1000 hard court event will be his first appearance in five years, with his last match at the event being a quarterfinal showdown against Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2019.

Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner clinched the second Grand Slam title of his career, and of the season, at the US Open by defeating Taylor Fritz in the final. He will next look to defend his China Open title in Beijing

Last year, Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev in the summit clash to win the title. He had Dan Evans, Yoshihito Nishioka, Grigor Dimitrov, and Carlos Alcaraz, on his way to the final.

This year, Jannik Sinner is the top seed at the ATP 500 hard court tournament and will kick off his title defense by taking on Nicolas Jarry in the first round.