‘You have been a very important part of my personal growth,’ Novak Djokovic pens down an emotional retirement message for close friend Viktor Troicki

‘You have been a very important part of my personal growth,’ Novak Djokovic pens down an emotional retirement message for close friend Viktor Troicki

Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki

Serbian tennis star, Viktor Troicki bid farewell to the sport he dearly loved after bowing out of Wimbledon 2021. Troicki lost to World No.138 Brandon Nakashima in the second round of Wimbledon qualifying on Wednesday.

The Serb had earlier announced that Wimbledon 2021 would be his last tournament. Addressing his retirement, world no.1 Novak Djokovic took to social media and penned an emotional message for his friend, acknowledging his importance and saluting him.

Djokovic wrote: “My friend, my comrade @troicki_viktor. You have been a very important part of my personal growth & tennis story. Hvala brate. It may be the end of a fantastic career, but you are no doubt to inspire new champions my friend. Thank you for everything Ćivša! Good luck!”

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Troicki was one of the top players in the world a decade back and was ranked as high as No.12 in the ATP Rankings. He had three tour titles to his name and also won the decisive singles match over France’s Michael Llodra in the 2010 Davis Cup final.

Djokovic’s closest friend and supporter- Viktor Troicki

Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki
Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki

Djokovic and Troicki share a very special bond. The 19-time grand slam champion has always acknowledged Troicki’s importance in his life while Troicki considers Nole to be the best player ever.

Troicki had earlier said that people don’t like Nole because he burst into the scenes all of a sudden from a small country. “We all see that aversion, it is very easy to see. The fact is that Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were at the top before Nole appeared, and then suddenly a guy from Serbia came and won all the tournaments.”

“That doesn’t please others. We all know what the situation has been like in our country in recent decades. The world does not have a good image of us, so not everyone, but some condemn him and have a wrong image of him.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71iQ2xWgdH4

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