“Dream big and nurture those dreams,” Novak Djokovic offers inspiring words after historic 10th Australian Open title
Novak Djokovic had some inspirational words for youngsters back in Serbia after emotional Australian Open title.
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Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic’s legacy at the Rod Laver Arena continues, as the Serbian added a 10th Australian Open title to his tally on Sunday. The new world number one defeated the fourth seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to match Rafael Nadal’s tally of 22 Major titles. Despite carrying a minor hamstring injury in Melbourne, the Serbian was playing on a different level altogether in the last couple of rounds.
Novak Djokovic has always been a great speaker, and never forgets to trace back to his roots. After his emotional win on Sunday, the 35-year-old took had some really inspirational words for the crowd, and people watching back home in Serbia. He revisited the fact that he comes from a relatively smaller nation, where tennis was not a really popular sport in his younger days. Now, Novak has put Serbia on the global tennis map after his exploits in the past decade and a half.
Novak Djokovic also took some time to appreciate Stefanos Tsitsipas’ journey, recognizing the fact that tennis is still a pretty alien sport in Greece. “I probably don’t know fully how it resonates with people. I truly believe and I hope that, especially young people in Serbia, find a lot of inspiration in what I do, what I have achieved, so it motivates them to grab a racquet or whatever they do, whether it’s sport or any other area of life,” said Djokovic.
“As I said on the court, dream big and nurture those dreams. We heard the story before, but it truly is like cliché, but it is true. Coming from countries like Serbia and Greece, in Stefanos’ case, with almost zero tennis tradition and support in any shape or form for the tennis, it makes adversity far bigger challenge to reach the big heights and great heights. You kind of have to pave your own way and become the first in something – of course, along with your family and close people in your life and your coaches,” he added.
“We are great rivals, but we had some nice words for each other on the court,” Novak Djokovic on Stefanos Tsitsipas
Novak Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the finals of a Grand Slam for the second time. Their last meeting came at the French Open finals in 2021, where Djokovic made a miraculous comeback to win in five sets. The Serbian stated that despite being great rivals on court, the duo had mutual respect for one another.
“Serbia and Greece, as I said it, we have great relationship historically between the countries. So as I have with Stefanos personally, of course we are great rivals, but we had some nice words for each other on the court,” said Djokovic.
“I think it’s important. It’s important to be kind and respectful in those moments. Regardless of the score, you want to win without a doubt, everybody knows that. You’re a fierce competitor, but you should always have some respectful words for your opponent and understanding of what he goes through because you can relate to a lot of the things that your peers are going through because you know how tough it is,” he continued.
Stefanos Tsitsipas gave Novak Djokovic a run for his money in the finals, pushing the last two sets to a tiebreaker. The Greek will be disappointed to lose in straight sets, given that the scoreboard is not reflective of how well the fourth seed played. However, Novak Djokovic was absolutely clutch during important moments in the match, which eventually helped him claim his 10th Australian Open title.
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