ATP Tennis Tournament Postponed From Belgrade Amid Djokovic's Row With Authorities

• 4.08.2025, 19:02

The famous tennis player supported student protests in Serbia.

The 250 category tennis tournament in November will be held in Athens instead of Belgrade at the Panathinaikos basketball arena, according to the website of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

The competition will be held from November 2 to 8. Athens will host the ATP tournament for the first time since 1994.

The license to host this tournament belongs to the family of Novak Djokovic, which made the decision to postpone the competition, Serbian publication SportKlub noted. "Despite great dedication and efforts, we were unable to guarantee the necessary conditions to hold the tournament on the planned dates and in the planned format," the organizers said.

Greek publication SDNA attributes the decision to postpone the tournament to tensions between Djokovic, who has supported protests in the country, and Serbian President Alexander Vucic.

Jokovic appeared at a basketball game in the winter wearing a sweatshirt that read "Students are Champions," posted a photo from the protests on social media and wrote the name of a student injured during the rally on camera after the game.