Novak Djokovic: ‘I was making like a little toy’

The last two decades of the world of tennis have been dominated by the Big Three, tennis players who have made history in the sport. Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, 64 Grand Slam titles together and endless records. First Fedal, then Djokovic-Federer and then Djokovic-Nadal, their matches have excited millions of viewers. If Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal have cultivated a great friendship in addition to their rivalry, the same is not the case with Novak Djokovic and the other two. There are no misunderstandings, of course there is no hatred between these three rivals, but the relationship between the two is different and in the past there have also been some frictions between the parties, but this has already happened. Djokovic’s decisions on and off the court sometimes created some controversy and the other two champions did not side with him. Now things are much better and relations between the big three are certainly very good. Between yesterday and today, first Roger Federer and then Rafael Nadal congratulated Novak Djokovic on winning the 2023 Australian Open. The Serbian champion has definitively ousted Roger Federer, who already has 20 Grand Slams, and, above all, he has caught up with his great rival Rafael Nadal, who remains at 22 Slams. The two rivals, however, posted sincere and very nice praise for their rival on their social accounts. Novak Djokovic shed some light on his tough Serbian upbringing in a recent conversation with former pro Somdev Devvarman. “Look, you know, I don’t do them because I want publicity. I do them because I feel like I want to help, I want to be there for people who are less fortunate. I come from Serbia, from the 90s, where we have suffered two wars and six years of embargo. For four years no Serbian athlete was allowed to leave the country to compete in international competitions,” the Serb explained.

Djokovic put together a dominant run 

Following his historic Australian Open title win, Novak Djokovic revealed the tournament he always dreamed of winning as a child. “When I was eight, I was in my room, in Belgrade Serbia, where I’m from, and I was making the improvised Wimbledon trophy out of the materials that I had in the room. I was making like a little toy and I had a game with myself and I was looking in the mirror, holding this trophy and saying that I will be a Wimbledon champion one day. So, that was the tournament I always dreamt of winning,” he revealed. “I always wanted to win as many Grand Slams as possible, but I never thought that I am gonna win this many Australian Opens, no,” he stated.