Novak Djokovic broke a spear for Christian Garín on Friday. Asked at the press conference following his victory against Kudla in the third round at Wimbledon, The Serbian defended his Chilean partner, who has suffered real harassment in recent days via social networks after refusing to participate in the Tokyo Games.
“I am not too familiar with Cristian’s situation. It is the first time I have heard that he is going through that. I am very sorry because it is not fair. He should not be accused and he should not be abused in that way,” he said. For the Serbian, the problem of social networks comes from the background and believes that it is something that must be tackled in all areas: “It is the age of the Internet and social networks. People have a platform through which they can express themselves in a good way and, unfortunately, in a very bad way. It is a serious problem that we are having not only in sports, but in general. Many people are being abused. Many teenagers today, underage boys and girls who have telephones very early in their lives, go through depressions due to abuse, comments, things they find daily on the internet and social networks. “
However, Djokovic admits that it is difficult to put doors to the field once the monster has been fed: “It’s a serious topic that everyone needs to address to try to create a more protective environment. But it’s difficult. It’s free. It’s out there, so anyone can set up an account on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, whatever, and start abusing someone they don’t like. It’s very difficult to completely protect yourself from that unless it just shuts down and isn’t present in your life. So I feel like we all have to be with each other, but at the same time, of course, I publicly accuse and am against abuse. “
The Balkan considers that the support of the inner circle is vital to deal with situations like the one that Garín has had to experience: “I feel that, not only for Cristian, but for anyone who is going through that, you need to address it psychologically with yourself, with your relatives and with your family., in a very serious way because it affects the mental state especially of younger people, adolescents. They go through a lot of depression. I know what happens in my country. It happens everywhere. So it is a global problem.