Serbia Prime Minister Ana Brnabic has supported world no. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic after the Serbian ace was massively criticized after conducting the ill-fated Adria Open in Serbia and Croatia. Four tennis players, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/serbian-tennis-ace-novak-djokovic-tests-positive-for-covid-19-307966">including Djokovic</a>, were tested positive following the event with the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/i-am-deeply-sorry-we-were-wrong-novak-djokovic-issues-apology-on-adria-tour-after-testing-positive-for-coronavirus-308169">Serbian releasing a heartfelt apology</a> for the fiasco.&nbsp;

Brnabic said Djokovic tried to do something for the whole region and wanted to help young and non-established tennis players while raising money for humanitarian purposes. The Serbian PM further urged everyone should leave Djokovic alone and rather shift the blame on her.

"Every part of him. He tried to do something good for the whole region," Brnabic said in an interview with PinkTV.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a data-ctorig="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/novak-djokovics-faulty-serve-to-the-tennis-world-308282" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/novak-djokovics-faulty-serve-to-the-tennis-world-308282&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwju0POMqKzqAhVIzzgGHbPNA_0QFjADegQICRAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw22OBXqtziTPxaCGuCIHBmW" dir="ltr" href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/novak-djokovics-faulty-serve-to-the-tennis-world-308282" target="_blank">Novak&nbsp;Djokovic's&nbsp;faulty serve to the tennis world</a>

"To put politics aside and help young and non-established tennis players, as well as to raise money for humanitarian purposes. If they could shift the blame on me personally, as Prime Minister, and leave Novak alone, I would love it," she added.

Djokovic has also found support in Manchester United and Serbian international Nemanja Matic as the midfielder said that the situation in Serbia was completely different from other parts of the world and Djokovic did nothing wrong by conducting the event.

The likes of Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki were tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the Belgrade leg of the exhibition event. Djokovic and his wife were also tested positive for the dreaded virus with NBA star Nikola Jokic, who attended the event in Serbia, also contracted the virus.&nbsp;

Some of the tennis players, including Djokovic, were also seen partying at a nightclub in Belgrade to celebrate the success of Adria Tour before all hell broke loose.

"People need to understand that the situation in Serbia was better than here. The country allowed everyone to do whatever they want, everything was open, the shopping centres and the restaurants," Matic told Sky Sports.

Djokovic’s move to organise Adria Tour received <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/nick-kyrgios-reacts-as-novak-djokovic-tests-positive-for-covid-19-posts-video-of-tennis-players-partying-after-adria-tour-307992">heavy bashing from ace tennis player Nick Kyrgios</a> with former Indian tennis player Vijay Amritraj also terming the event as “surprising.” 
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Serbia Prime Minister Ana Brnabic has supported world no. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic after the Serbian ace was massively criticized after conducting the ill-fated Adria Open in Serbia and Croatia.

Serbia Prime Minister Ana Brnabic has supported world no. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic after the Serbian ace was massively criticized after conducting the ill-fated Adria Open in Serbia and Croatia. Four tennis players, including Djokovic, were tested positive following the event with the Serbian releasing a heartfelt apology for the fiasco. Brnabic said Djokovic tried to do something for the whole region and wanted to help young and non-established tennis players while raising money for humanitarian purposes. The Serbian PM further urged everyone should leave Djokovic alone and rather shift the blame on her. "Every part of him. He tried to do something good for the whole region," Brnabic said in an interview with PinkTV. ALSO READ: Novak Djokovic's faulty serve to the tennis world "To put politics aside and help young and non-established tennis players, as well as to raise money for humanitarian purposes. If they could shift the blame on me personally, as Prime Minister, and leave Novak alone, I would love it," she added. Djokovic has also found support in Manchester United and Serbian international Nemanja Matic as the midfielder said that the situation in Serbia was completely different from other parts of the world and Djokovic did nothing wrong by conducting the event. The likes of Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki were tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the Belgrade leg of the exhibition event. Djokovic and his wife were also tested positive for the dreaded virus with NBA star Nikola Jokic, who attended the event in Serbia, also contracted the virus. Some of the tennis players, including Djokovic, were also seen partying at a nightclub in Belgrade to celebrate the success of Adria Tour before all hell broke loose. "People need to understand that the situation in Serbia was better than here. The country allowed everyone to do whatever they want, everything was open, the shopping centres and the restaurants," Matic told Sky Sports. Djokovic’s move to organise Adria Tour received heavy bashing from ace tennis player Nick Kyrgios with former Indian tennis player Vijay Amritraj also terming the event as “surprising.”

Blame me but leave Novak Djokovic alone: Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic

Serbia&#39;s President on Thursday named an openly gay woman as the next prime minister, a milestone move for the deeply conservative country and the wider Balkan region.

Ana Brnabic, 41, will take the premiership less than a year after she entered politics, becoming&nbsp;public administration minister last August.

&quot;I decided to propose Ana Brnabic as prime minister-designate to the parliament of&nbsp;Serbia,&quot; President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters.

&quot;I believe that Brnabic has professional and personal qualities to be prime minister... and that along with other ministers she will work on improvement and progress of our&nbsp;Serbia,&quot; he added.

Brnabic said serving her country was the &quot;greatest honour&quot;.&nbsp;

&quot;I will work in a devoted and responsible way with great love and honesty,&quot; she told public broadcaster RTS.

Brnabic becomes&nbsp;Serbia&#39;s first female prime minister and the first openly gay premier in the Balkans, where homophobia remains widespread.

Serbia&nbsp;is home to about seven million people, most of them Orthodox Christians.

But it has been eager to show increased tolerance after coming under pressure to improve protection for minorities, including the LGBT community, since it began talks to join the European Union.

At Belgrade&#39;s Gay Pride march in 2010, 150 people were injured as hardline nationalists attacked participants and clashed with police. That led officials to ban the parade for the next three years.

Since then, the annual marches have passed without incident, though they are guarded by an extensive security presence.

In interviews after she became a minister last year, Brnabic expressed the hope that people would look beyond her sexual orientation.

&quot;Why does it matter? I don&#39;t know why it matters,&quot; she told the regional RTV channel last week.

&quot;What is important is whether someone is capable, professional, hard-working, honest, likes their country and wants to work in its best interest.&quot;

She is expected to take office in the next few weeks.

A telling choice&nbsp;

Vucic had been serving as prime minister himself since 2014 until two weeks ago, when he became head of state after winning the presidential vote in April.

While he has won praise from abroad and has led&nbsp;Serbia&nbsp;into the EU accession talks, at home he has been accused of authoritarian rule and clamping down on media freedoms.

The presidential job is largely ceremonial, but analysts expect that Vucic will move to consolidate his influence.

Before Thursday&#39;s announcement, his SNS party -- which has a comfortable majority in parliament -- said he would make the decision on his successor.

When he appointed Brnabic to his cabinet last year, Vucic said that he was interested only in her work and that &quot;her personal choices do not interest me&quot;.

&quot;Vucic is trying to show that&nbsp;Serbia&nbsp;is a free liberal country in which civic freedoms are at a high level,&quot; political scientist Boban Stojanovic told AFP.

&quot;That could of course be just a &#39;camouflage&#39; of the situation as the reality is nowhere near that.&quot;

Stojanovic added that Vucic &quot;wanted to show to all other political actors in&nbsp;Serbia&nbsp;that he is the most powerful person in the country and that no other politician is close to him.&quot;

Brnabic, who is not officially affiliated with any party, told RTV last week that the president has &quot;a certain role as a mentor to the prime minister, at least in the first few months&quot;.

The premier-designate entered politics after a career in the business sector and local development programmes.

She has an MBA in marketing from Britain&#39;s University of Hull and worked as a director at the renewable energy firm Continental Wind&nbsp;Serbia.

Serbian president appointed Ana Brnabic as the prime minister of a country that continues to remain deeply homophobic

Serbia's President on Thursday named an openly gay woman as the next prime minister, a milestone move for the deeply conservative country and the wider Balkan region. Ana Brnabic, 41, will take the premiership less than a year after she entered politics, becoming public administration minister last August. "I decided to propose Ana Brnabic as prime minister-designate to the parliament of Serbia," President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters. "I believe that Brnabic has professional and personal qualities to be prime minister... and that along with other ministers she will work on improvement and progress of our Serbia," he added. Brnabic said serving her country was the "greatest honour". "I will work in a devoted and responsible way with great love and honesty," she told public broadcaster RTS. Brnabic becomes Serbia's first female prime minister and the first openly gay premier in the Balkans, where homophobia remains widespread. Serbia is home to about seven million people, most of them Orthodox Christians. But it has been eager to show increased tolerance after coming under pressure to improve protection for minorities, including the LGBT community, since it began talks to join the European Union. At Belgrade's Gay Pride march in 2010, 150 people were injured as hardline nationalists attacked participants and clashed with police. That led officials to ban the parade for the next three years. Since then, the annual marches have passed without incident, though they are guarded by an extensive security presence. In interviews after she became a minister last year, Brnabic expressed the hope that people would look beyond her sexual orientation. "Why does it matter? I don't know why it matters," she told the regional RTV channel last week. "What is important is whether someone is capable, professional, hard-working, honest, likes their country and wants to work in its best interest." She is expected to take office in the next few weeks. A telling choice Vucic had been serving as prime minister himself since 2014 until two weeks ago, when he became head of state after winning the presidential vote in April. While he has won praise from abroad and has led Serbia into the EU accession talks, at home he has been accused of authoritarian rule and clamping down on media freedoms. The presidential job is largely ceremonial, but analysts expect that Vucic will move to consolidate his influence. Before Thursday's announcement, his SNS party -- which has a comfortable majority in parliament -- said he would make the decision on his successor. When he appointed Brnabic to his cabinet last year, Vucic said that he was interested only in her work and that "her personal choices do not interest me". "Vucic is trying to show that Serbia is a free liberal country in which civic freedoms are at a high level," political scientist Boban Stojanovic told AFP. "That could of course be just a 'camouflage' of the situation as the reality is nowhere near that." Stojanovic added that Vucic "wanted to show to all other political actors in Serbia that he is the most powerful person in the country and that no other politician is close to him." Brnabic, who is not officially affiliated with any party, told RTV last week that the president has "a certain role as a mentor to the prime minister, at least in the first few months". The premier-designate entered politics after a career in the business sector and local development programmes. She has an MBA in marketing from Britain's University of Hull and worked as a director at the renewable energy firm Continental Wind Serbia.

Gay woman set to be Serbian prime minister in Balkan's first

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Blame me but leave Novak Djokovic alone: Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic

Gay woman set to be Serbian prime minister in Balkan's first