Novak Djokovic is in Belgrade, Serbia this week as he dedicates his time to the Novak Djokovic Foundation. While in Belgrade, Djokovic saw a few kids playing tennis on the street in the neighborhood. Naturally, he could not resist joining in with the kids’ game.
It’s my pleasure- Novak Djokovic
The World No. 1 has no qualms in playing a game of street tennis with some kids. Maybe he simply could not resist the urge, given that he is off the Tour a couple of weeks now.
When he first saw the kids playing without a net, he went over and had a little chat with them.
“It was spontaneous, I was coming back with rackets, the first time I saw the kids playing tennis without a net. Then I told them I was going to bring a net between two lamp posts to hook them up and play nicely.”
I can only imagine the rush the kids went through when the country’s hero came up to them. They probably never even dreamed they would get the chance to play with one of the greatest tennis players ever, especially on the streets of Belgrade.
Humility has always been a pillar of Novak’s character throughout his career. He is a man of principles. And while there may have been times when his conduct on the court did not sit well with fans, it is imperative to understand the range of emotions players go through in the heat of battle.
It is not always easy to keep your emotions under the wraps when you are out there all alone, fighting.
Check out the video of Novak playing with the kids on the streets of Belgrade.
Djokovic elaborated further on what the incident meant to him personally.
“It was great, for such moments one lives. Now, as a father, I invoke these situations to play with the children, and it is my pleasure to see the children play tennis, hit the wall, that’s how we all started.”
“It was an amazing decade for our tennis. That obviously helped the popularity of the sport in our country. There was a lot of interest, a lot of young people choosing to grab a tennis racquet.”
Such wise words from a terrific champion. Novak is quite big on making the sport popular in his country. Talking about the recent success Serbia had in tennis, he hopes it will only get better going forward.
Novak Djokovic Shares His Secret to Composure
As Novak Djokovic takes some well-earned time off the tennis courts, he is doing some work for the Novak Djokovic Foundation. While in Serbia, he spent some of his time for an expansive press conference. It was quite an interesting session, and it gave us some insight into the mind of the great champion.
Novak Djokovic on composure
As a huge admirer of Djokovic, I always wanted to ask the man how he manages to keep himself in the right frame of mind.
His mentality has played such a huge part in his illustrious career. And I mean both, in a positive and negative manner.
I still believe that his fall from grace after the 2016 Roland Garros had more to do with his mentality than the elbow injury. He had dominated the men’s tennis in the 12 months leading up to Paris. Domination, the likes of which the sport had never seen before.
And once he got his hands on the missing Major, he simply had it all. He had done it all, won it all, and in such an emphatic manner that it sapped all his desire. The level of interest he had in wanting to win everything dropped dramatically, and he seemed satisfied with his achievements.
But, it was his mentality that also pulled him back in it. After a couple of years in the wilderness, he came back strong and hungry once again.
His mental strength is renowned by now. His steely mind has enabled him to fight back in times of attrition and win many matches. So how is it that he keeps himself so composed in difficulty and pressure-heavy times?
“Various breathing techniques help me to be more focused, conscious breathing. Furthermore, visualization, I have big belief in pictures I present to myself, they get bigger and bigger and become reality.”
“Also, thinking about family, some personal dreams, anything that can fuel you in important moments.”
Novak Djokovic is a big fan of visualization. He has talked about it on many previous occasions too. I hope he is visualizing achieving the Calendar Year Golden Slam this year.
There was one more technique to remain focused and composed that he used in his early days. The ball bounce!
Alas, the shot-clock does not allow for that anymore.
