WATCH: Novak Djokovic’s wife Jelena performs a Balkan ritual for her husband ahead of his Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz

The world waits with bated breath to catch one of the most anticipated tennis matches in recent times.

WATCH: Novak Djokovic’s wife Jelena performs a Balkan ritual for her husband ahead of his Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz

Novak Djokovic's wife performs Balkan ritual (Image via Twitter)

For Novak Djokovic, July 16, 2023, is just another day at work as the Serb gets ready to participate in a record-extending 35th Grand Slam final. His wife, Jelena, who has been cheering for him from his box for the past couple of weeks, performed a Balkan ritual to ensure the success of her husband as the world No. 2 left for his final practice session of this year’s Wimbledon Championships.

In what is being billed as one of the most awaited tennis matches in recent times, defending champion and second seed Novak Djokovic will lock horns with top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

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Dressed in all-white, with his tennis gear in tow, the seven-time Wimbledon champion headed to the courts to prepare for his upcoming match. In a video that was posted by one of Novak’s die-hard fans on Twitter, his wife, Jelena (not visible in the footage), can be seen splashing some water from a glass tumbler, just as the 23-time Grand Slam champion is getting ready to board his vehicle and head towards the practice courts.

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Jelena has not just been Novak’s biggest cheerleader over the course of the last 15 years, she also heads the Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Novak’s eight-year-old son, Stefan, also dressed in matching whites, can be seen running behind his father’s back.

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The tweet has gone viral rather quickly, with some Twitter users taking to the platform to highlight that it is a Serbian tradition, and not a more generalist Balkan tradition, as claimed by the fan who posted the video.

Bastien Fachan, a 29-year-old Twitter user whose bio claims that he is a social media influencer, sought to put things into perspective by giving a lucid description of the incident involving Jelena splashing water behind her husband’s back. He tweeted, “‘According to folk belief [in Balkan Peninsula countries], spilling water behind the person who goes on a journey or to do a job will bring good luck, and is done so that the travel or the job will end happily.”

Some Twitter users were quick to highlight that a similar tradition can also be seen in countries like Libya and Türkiye.

One user put it succinctly when he tweeted that the tradition is a sort of good luck charm. Giving it a philosophical spin, he went on to add that just as the water flows, so too should success flow for the person embarking on something of significance.

Also read: Toni Nadal calls Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal ‘slow’ in comparison to Felix Auger-Aliassime

Novak Djokovic looks to re-write the record books yet again

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Novak Djokovic chewing on the grass of Centre Court (Image Courtesy : Wimbledon Official)

Ritual or not, the very fact is that the 23-time Grand Slam champion is the man to beat in this year’s final. The wafer-thin Serb, with his stringent diet and regimen, has lorded over the lawns of Centre Court for 10 years running. On quite a few occasions, the great man has suggested that he enjoys the pressure and having a target on his back. Some would say it’s mere bluster, but few could argue otherwise when Novak says that he considers himself to be the favorite in Grand Slam tournaments.

It will be a tall order indeed if the 20-year-old World No. 1, Carlos Alcaraz, is to stop the juggernaut that is Novak Djokovic. The Serb has his eyes set firmly on the top prize as he guns for a record-equaling eighth Wimbledon title and a record-extending 24th Grand Slam title, which is likely to give further credence to calls of him being labeled the greatest of all time.

On top of it all, victory will not only propel Djokovic to the top of the Pepperstone ATP rankings, but also put him in the sights of a Calendar Slam, a feat which has eluded the indomitable Serb.

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