“I’m afraid of loud, sudden noises,” Novak Djokovic recollects childhood trauma, stating he’s still haunted by the Belgrade attack

Novak Djokovic opens up about lingering effects of childhood trauma.

“I’m afraid of loud, sudden noises,” Novak Djokovic recollects childhood trauma, stating he’s still haunted by the Belgrade attack

Novak Djokovic (Images via Twitter)

Novak Djokovic was asked about March 24, 1999, when he was in Belgrade and the NATO bombings happened. Djokovic explained the story in detail and it seemed everything was still fresh to him. He seemed to remember every little detail of the Belgrade attack. He said, “It didn’t happen on the first night but on the second or third. The explosion woke me up, the crash of breaking glass. My mother fell, she hit her head on the radiator, and passed out.”.

He mentioned that his father’s shouting and him being the oldest. He had not even turned 12 at that time but he had to carry on. He further mentioned that they had to make it to his aunt’s building. “…so we ran towards my aunt’s building, it was three in the morning, and there was smoke from bombs on the street. I fell, scraped my hands and knees, looked up and mine were gone, heard a rumble coming towards me, looked up at the sky, and saw two F-117s go by. They fired two rockets at the military hospital, which exploded five hundred meters from us, the earth shook, everything was shaking… It was a trauma, even now I’m afraid of sudden loud noises,”, said Djokovic.

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Novak Djokovic continued to play tennis during the 78 days of the bombing of Belgrade. Schools were closed at that time and he remembers playing at dawn at there were no bombings during that time. He went to areas where raids were not likely to happen.

Although it was a game and fun for him, it agonized his parents. Novak Djokovic believes that no one wins in war. His childhood trauma also provided him with motivation to become great and he was able to turn his anger into something positive.

Boris Becker talks about Novak Djokovic’s charming side

Novak Djokovic and Boris Becker
Novak Djokovic and Boris Becker (Images via The Guardian)

Former World No.1 player Boris Becker expressed that Novak Djokovic is often a misunderstood person. Novak Djokovic has been portrayed as a villain by the media on numerous occasions but he is not really like that.

“He’s actually a very outgoing, very worldly man. Sometimes he comes across as a bit of a tennis machine. But when he’s not in his office, he is very charming. You can talk to him about business, politics, about music, and he’s a good guy,”, said Boris Becker. Becker used to coach Djokovic back in 2013 and knows him quite well. Becker also mentioned that Djokovic was a tennis historian and a perfectionist.

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