People reacted as if Novak Djokovic was the No. 1 enemy in the world: NBA star Nikola Vucevic

Novak Djokovic is one of the most famous personalities to have ever been born n Serbia, and is certainly their greatest tennis player ever. That has made him one of the most popular sports personalities in the history of not just Serbia, but the entire Balkan region.

Recently, Montenegrin NBA player Nikola Vucevic asserted that the World No. 1 is the perfect ambassador for the country, especially because of how proudly he speaks of his Serbian heritage.

Novak Djokovic is an athlete born once in who knows how many years: Nikola Vucevic

Nikola Vucevic (R) speaks very highly of Novak Djokovic

Nikola Vucevic, who plays for Orlando Magic in the NBA, lavished high praise on Novak Djokovic for how well he represents the Balkan region in sports. Vucevic met Djokovic recently, and said that he couldn't understand why the World No. 1 attracts so much criticism from the media.

"He is the best ambassador that Serbia has had in history," said Vucevic. "How he behaves, how he represents the state and how he proudly talks about it, and people again had so many negative opinions about him and it was by no means clear to me."

Vucenic also claimed that Novak Djokovic is the kind of athlete that is born once in a generation, and for that he should command respect rather than negativity.

"He is an athlete who is born once in who knows how many years. It is completely unclear to me to blame him for something," asserted the NBA player. "It is ugly how they treated him, he did not deserve it in any way."

The Montenegrin also cherishes his memory of meeting Novak Djokovic as he reminisced:

"I really appreciate Novak. I had the opportunity to meet him, watch him live and talk to him after the matches. It can be seen that Nole is a great champion and a great man."

It was ugly how Novak Djokovic was treated following the Adria Tour: Vucevic

Novak Djokovic with members of his family at the Adria Tour

Most of Vucevic's frustration over the treatment meted out to Novak Djokovic seems to stem from the Adria Tour, which led to wide-scale controversy due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

"It was ugly how some people treated Novak," said Vucevic. "He tried to organize the tournament with the best intentions. He was given the wrong information about the situation with the virus in the Balkans at that time. He tried with the best intentions to help tennis players and to bring something to people, considering that the world was blocked."

The Adria Tour of exhibition tournaments was hosted and funded by Novak Djokovc and members of his family, and was scheduled to take place across the Balkans region. But the event was halted after four players - Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, Viktor Troicki and Novak Djokovic himself - all tested positive for COVID-19 during the tour's second leg in Zadar, Croatia.

Vucevic, however, believes that what happened at the Adria Tour is not entirely Novak Djokovic's fault, and that people twisted his best intentions to portray him as 'the number one enemy in the world.'

"People could get out of the house, see the best tennis players in the world there and something happen. The intention was to raise money for charity and to help tennis players," asserted Vucevic.

"Several players became infected. Okay, it can be said that it was a mistake, but the way people reacted to Novak, as if he was the number one enemy in the world. It was not clear to me at all. Especially when you look at what Novak did, not only for Serbia but also for the Balkans."