Belgrade: Father hits and kicks tennis talent because 14-year-old refuses to train

Serbian actor Igor Juric published a video from a tennis court in Serbia on his Twitter account on Sunday. The video shows a Chinese father, WL, first slapping his 14-year-old daughter and then kicking him several times. When the 14-year-old sits on the bench, her father pulls her to the ground. When she is lying in front of him on the sand court, he kicks the defenseless girl’s legs several more times.

Juric, who campaigns against child abuse, called for the father to be found and reported. The Serbian authorities became aware of the video and took the father into custody. He was arrested at the tennis club’s training facility in Belgrade and held in custody for 48 hours. He is accused of domestic violence and faces up to ten years in prison if convicted.

As the Serbian newspaper “Mondo” wrote, the father showed neither remorse nor did he see his wrongdoing. He justifies his actions by saying that the daughter did not continue training and he wanted her to return to the field. “I didn’t want to hurt my daughter,” the father said at the hearing. It is a tradition in China to respect hierarchy. He believed he was doing the right thing because it’s legal in China. The Serbian Tennis Association (TSS) also says that this is not the behavior you want on the tennis court.

“We thank the Serbian public prosecutor’s office for the quick and efficient measures,” wrote the TSS in a statement. In addition to the investigations of the public prosecutor’s office, a separate procedure against WL will be initiated. You will work with the European and international tennis association. «The Tennis Union of Serbia has zero tolerance for all forms of violent behavior. We all have to prevent this together, not only on tennis courts and sports facilities, but in society in general. » Not only the association, but also many active and former players reported on this incident. Only one remained silent for the time being.

The video sparked a wave of outrage on social media. Swiss tennis star Stan Wawrinka wrote on Twitter that he found this incident “terrible”. Belarusian former world No. 1 Viktoria Azarenka expressed her condolences on Instagram. Jelena Dokic, the former Australian tennis player with Serbian roots, got in touch. She was also physically and mentally abused by her father in the past. “It makes me sick, I threw up and my heart is broken after seeing this video,” Dokic wrote on Instagram.

Not only former athletes were dismayed by the video. Grand Slam winner Andy Murray’s mother, Judy Murray, tweeted: “Terrible example of child abuse in junior tennis.” She called on the international tennis federation ITF to punish the culprit. Brad Gilbert, Andre Agassi’s former coach, called the racquet a “piece of sh *****”.

After the video was published, there were calls for a statement from the most famous Serbian sportsman. The 21-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic has so far remained silent about the incidents. Like the two Swiss Stan Wawrinka and Marc-Andrea Hüsler, the 35-year-old is currently in action at the ATP tournament in Paris Bercy. In the French capital, the Serb is playing for his 91st tournament title and won his opening match against the American Maxime Cressy in straight sets.