“We could play golf as friends” Novak Djokovic finds a post-retirement ‘competitive plan’ for himself and Rafael Nadal

“We could play golf as friends” Novak Djokovic finds a post-retirement ‘competitive plan’ for himself and Rafael Nadal

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are among the biggest rivals in any sport. They have faced each other 58 times in their career and have played numerous finals between them. Both of them have given each other lots of tough moments in their careers as well as many memorable wins. Nadal and Djokovic also have tremendous respect for each other as competitors and human beings.

Both the players are present in Rome for the Italian Open 2022. They lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Mutua Madrid Open in the quarterfinals and semifinals. They both are in the last years of their careers as they have ruled the tennis world for decades, and it’s time for a new generation to replace the older generation. With the legends like Novak and Rafa in their last lap, some of them have started to look beyond their life on the court, and Novak too, has thought of something he could do post-retirement.

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Novak Djokovic could follow Ash Barty as a golfer post-retirement.

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic

Djokovic also included his longtime rival and acquaintance Rafael Nadal in his off-court plans as golfing buddies. But there are some small issues as Djokovic jokingly highlighted. He quoted:

“I think Nadal and I have challenged too many times on the tennis court. One day we could play golf just as friends, but knowing ourselves it will end we both of us try to win”.

This is a very astute observation from Djokovic given the fact that they are great champions and tremendous competitors and so they naturally want to excel at anything they do. So, This wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that even during a friendly match, they would still give it their all to outdo one another.

For now, they would be likely meet each other on the court in the semifinals of the Italian Open, if they manage to move past their respective hurdles.

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