Novak Djokovic Gets Muhammad Ali Comparisons After Opening Up About Hardships Faced for Being Serbian

Novak Djokovic is playing at the Six Kings Slam and will face Taylor Fritz on October 18.

Novak Djokovic Gets Muhammad Ali Comparisons After Opening Up About Hardships Faced for Being Serbian

Muhammad Ali, Novak Djokovic (Image via The Independent, X/Novak Djokovic)

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Because Novak Djokovic is from Serbia, it used to make things harder for him during his teen years. Djokovic is in Riyadh for the Six Kings Slam, and after receiving the first-round bye, he ended up losing his semifinal match against Jannik Sinner in straight sets.

In Riyadh, the 24-time Grand Slam champion was also a guest at the Joy Forum event, where he recalled the hardships he faced just because he carried the Serbian passport. But these adversities only helped him become thick-skinned and stronger mentally. During his conversation with host Max Kellerman, UFC CEO Dana White, and NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal during the event, Djokovic said:

So here I am as a teenager with my Serbian passport, and most of the people just turning their heads. You know, it’s like, okay, you come from Serbia, not great, so you had to fight through that, endure that, but I’m not whining about it.

Djokovic reminds Kellerman of former boxer Muhammad Ali, whose passport was seized by the US government in 1967 because he refused to be drafted into the armed forces during the Vietnam War. He was also stripped of his titles.

Djokovic is a proud Serbian and has often called winning the Olympic gold medal for his country in Paris last year the biggest achievement of his career. His drive to represent Serbia in another Olympics is also one of the reasons why Nole doesn’t want to hang up his racket.

But I am not whining about it because I am actually grateful, because I feel like that has really thickened my skin and still made me even proud of where I come from and what I represent, because that’s something that sticks.

Novak Djokovic added

In spite of his defeat to Sinner, the 38-year-old is a part of the Riyadh exhibition. He will meet Taylor Fritz for the third-place match on October 18. Before scheduling the match against Djokovic, the American suffered a straight-set defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.

The Spaniard and the Italian will face each other in the final, and the winner will pocket the $6 million prize money. The rest have already won $1.5 million just because of their participation.

Rennae Stubbs on what Novak Djokovic doesn’t do anymore

Before the Six Kings Slam, Novak Djokovic chased his second title of the season at the Shanghai Masters, but eventual champion Valentin Vacherot became the reason behind his elimination. The Monegasque knocked him out in straight sets in the semifinals. Following his exit, former player Rennae Stubbs observed that Djokovic is not doing certain things he used to do before.

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (via Punto de Break)

Novak just doesn’t look like he has enough on the ball anymore against some of these players. He is the greatest of all time. He has all the records. But at some point, Father Time catches up with you, and it looks like he does not have quite enough on the ball; he is not imposing himself as much, he is not serving as well as he used to, when he won a lot of these tournaments and matches. And at some point, it catches up with you.

Rennae Stubbs said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast

After the Shanghai Masters, Djokovic will skip the Paris Masters and instead, he will be playing the first edition of the Hellenic Championship in Athens in November. Djokovic has won only the Geneva Open this year by beating Hubert Hurkacz, and also played the final of the Miami Open, losing the match to Jakub Mensik. In the Grand Slam events this year, he played all the semifinals and will continue his hunt for his 25th Major title at the Australian Open next year.

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