{"id":520125,"date":"2025-10-22T17:21:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T17:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/520125\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T17:21:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T17:21:35","slug":"novak-djokovic-mural-defaced-after-tennis-star-and-family-forced-to-flee-native-serbia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/520125\/","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic mural defaced after tennis star and family forced to flee native Serbia"},"content":{"rendered":"

A mural depicting Novak Djokovic in Belgrade has been vandalised, marking the latest incident targeting the tennis champion following his September relocation to Greece with his family.<\/p>\n

The artwork, created by Serbian street artist and architect Andrej Josifovski, known as The Pianist, was defaced with paint thrown across the tennis star’s face and body.<\/p>\n

The mural had portrayed Djokovic in his traditional white tennis attire during this year’s Wimbledon Championships.<\/p>\n

The vandalism occurred weeks after the 38-year-old tennis legend departed Serbia for Athens, where he has established a new residence in the southern suburbs.<\/p>\n

\"Novak<\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic has moved to Athens after he and his family were targeted in Serbia<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

REUTERS<\/p>\n

The incident has prompted an angry response from Josifovski, who discovered the damage to his work on Tuesday and shared images of the defacement on social media platforms.<\/p>\n

Djokovic has established his family in Athens after enrolling his children at Saint Lawrence College, a private British independent school in the Greek capital.<\/p>\n

His 11-year-old son Stefan and eight-year-old daughter Tara began attending the institution in September.<\/p>\n

The tennis champion held several meetings with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis before making the move.<\/p>\n

He has been seen at the Kavouri Tennis Club, where he played tennis with his son whilst wearing flip-flops and posed for photographs with fans.<\/p>\n

Reports suggest the 24-time Grand Slam winner is contemplating membership at either Kavouri or 91 Athens Riviera tennis clubs.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A mural of Novak Djokovic was defaced in Serbia<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

INSTAGRAM<\/p>\n

There is also speculation that he may seek a Greek Golden Visa, which provides residency rights in return for financial investment in the country.<\/p>\n

The tennis champion’s departure from Serbia followed his public backing of student-led demonstrations against President Aleksandar Vucic.<\/p>\n

The protests erupted after a railway station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad last November, claiming 16 lives.<\/p>\n

Students blamed alleged government corruption for the tragedy and demanded political reform.<\/p>\n

Djokovic expressed his support through social media, writing: “As someone who deeply believes in the power of youth and their desire for a better future, I believe it is important that their voices are heard.”<\/p>\n

He added: “Serbia has enormous potential, and its educated youth is its greatest strength. What we all need is understanding and respect. With you, Novak.”<\/p>\n

The tennis star also wore a jumper bearing the message “students are champions” at a basketball match earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\"Novak<\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic fled Serbia for Greece amid a free speech row<\/p>\n

| PA<\/p>\n

His stance drew fierce criticism from media outlets aligned with President Vucic’s government.<\/p>\n

Josifovski expressed his fury on Instagram, writing: “Imagine that great patriot in an orange jacket and a cap, sneaking around at night, then stopping in front of Novak (YES, NOVAK!) – looking him in the eyes and throwing paint on his face and body.”<\/p>\n

The artist blamed Serbian youth for the attack, stating: “That’s the fine Serbian youth from the cage who just want to learn how to paint graffiti. <\/p>\n

“We conquered the peak of the bottom long ago, but now we’re heading into the stratosphere.”<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This is not the first time that artwork featuring Novak Djokovic has been targeted<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

REUTERS<\/p>\n

He vowed retribution, declaring: “Don’t worry, my brother @djokernole, retaliation is coming – but without a mask, in broad daylight, the way we do it.”<\/p>\n

This is not the first time artwork featuring Djokovic has been targeted. In 2023, a mural in Orahovac, western Kosovo, was vandalised twice with paint attacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A mural depicting Novak Djokovic in Belgrade has been vandalised, marking the latest incident targeting the tennis champion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[512,93,79,1068,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-520125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sgg","9":"tag-sport","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115418974463077876","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}