During the awards ceremony that saw him lift the Norman Brookes Trophy to the sky for the tenth time in his career, Novak Djokovic wanted to send a clear message to all children who dream of one day competing on the biggest stages of world tennis.
“I tell all the children in the world to dream big because nothing is impossible. The more challenges you face, the stronger you will be: Stefanos (Tsitsipas, ed.) and I proved it.” The day after winning his 23rd Slam, Djokovic gave a special interview to a child during the ritual photos reserved for the tournament champions at the Royal Botanical Gardens.
“Always believe in your dreams. This is very important. Everything you imagine, because at your age imagination is always very strong. Don’t let anyone tell you that imagination is wrong. It’s okay. Always keep your dream alive and take care of it until the end”, said Djokovic, giving valuable advice to the lucky little boy, who was visibly moved during the conversation with the Belgrade native.
The Serb, before the microphones of the official website of the Australian Open, spoke again about the Australian day. “If I really wanted to win the trophy I had to be strong and not let external factors distract me on the way to the title.”
Nole Djokovic made history
In the aftermath of the final, Goran Ivanisevic told reporters that Novak Djokovic’s path to the title win was not easy.
“You know when a President visits a foreign country and they give him a list of 37,000 things to do, meeting etc. Novak had 37,000 therapies and treatments. All of those emotions came to the surface after he won. I mean, the guy spent more time in his car than in his previous 16 Australian Open tournaments combined.
Incredible medical team, incredible,” Ivanisevic said. “It helps a lot with the communication that we speak the same language, because everything needs to happen quick on the court. Still, it’s not easy, especially when he ‘shoots’ me with that look of his.
But emotions are going through the roof, I would know,” he added. Djokovic only dropped one set in the entire tournament and managed to level up in the second week. Starting in the round of 16, the Serbian began to better manage his leg problem and dominated the three games that led him to the final.
In the last act of the tournament, Djokovic outplayed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the important moments and closed the match with two excellent tie-breaks.
