The penultimate tournament of the season awaits Novak Djokovic. Before the final Masters in Turin, the best tennis player in the world will face challenges in Paris.
The tournament from the 1,000 series was an ideal opportunity for colleagues from Eurosport to conduct an interview with Djokovic, who spoke on many topics.
To begin with, Djokovic spoke about the late stage of his career and his relationship with Goran Ivanišević.
“I assure you, I am a human being full of flaws like everyone else. I have been blessed with a stellar tennis career. He is right. I need more motivation now at this stage of my career than I did five or 10 years ago. Things are different, they change. I have two children who are six and nine years old. Every time I leave them my heart breaks. When I decide to travel somewhere, I really want to win to make it worth it. Team members try to find a way to motivate me. They haven’t had much success so far, but they are trying. I am joking of course. We have a lot of fun, we are great friends. We also have a professional relationship, of course, but I really like Goran as a person. He was one of the players I looked up to, we come from neighboring countries, we speak the same language”, began Djokovic.
“It comes so naturally. Unfortunately, due to the success of Serbian and Croatian tennis players in the last 30 years, we have a situation where judges understand swearing. We have to find other solutions, use slang, invent new words… But when you’re annoyed you don’t really think about it and it just comes out of your mouth. Goran understands, he wasn’t the calmest player on the field either. On the field, people saw me as a savage or semi-savage, but off the field I am quite different. I am calm. Nobody believed that I could be a good coach. You have to know how to bury your own ego. You are no longer important. The player is important”.
Already in January, Djokovic will have the opportunity to win the jubilee 25th Grand Slam in Australia, which is why he was asked if his jacket is already ready for the celebration.
“I was instructed not to talk about it in public (laughs). Those are great problems. If the 25th title comes in January, that would be great. I got great reactions after the previous two jackets and I hope Lacoste has produced quite a few. I am happy with the 24th title, I know that people, especially in my country, say: “Come on, let’s go for 25, 30″. If it was that easy, it would be great. I don’t know what it looks like, but I know what it feels like. You have to earn it. I feel like a cat with nine lives. Every time I play a Grand Slam, I lose one. You must be fully involved in that competition. Now more than before. That is also the reason why I have bigger breaks now, I have to replenish myself”.
Djokovic had a lot of free time before the tournament in Paris, which he spent well.
“It was a great month and a half that I managed to spend with my children, wife, parents, friends… Quality time spent with them is something that I value very much, but also something that I haven’t had in the last 15, 20 years. I try to spend every possible moment with them. I also played golf in the Ryder Cup. It was incredible. I was competitive, but I enjoyed it. I would like to thank everyone at the Ryder Cup. I experienced the biggest goal tournament live for the first time. I also followed other sports, watched the local Belgrade basketball teams compete in the Euroleague. I am a fan of football and basketball, I am a fan of those sports”.
In particular, Djokovic referred to the match between Red Star Meridianbet and Asvel, who was starving in the Arena.
“It was the first game in the Euroleague, 20,000 people in the stands. It was a match of Red Star, my favorite club. It’s great to be so close. “Every sport is different live than watching it on television,” Djokovic concluded.
