When Novak Djokovic chose not to get vaccinated against the Coronavirus, he knew there would be negative repercussions on the sporting level. The former world number 1 paid dearly for his stance, having had to give up two Grand Slams (Australian Open and US Open) and all the American Masters 1000 (Indian Wells, Miami, Montreal and Cincinnati).
The Serbian phenomenon was the protagonist of a bad soap opera in Australia, which also caused him serious image damage. The best version of Nole was reviewed only at Wimbledon, where he took his seventh seal (equaling his idol Pete Sampras).
The 35-year-old from Belgrade thus hoisted himself to 21 Grand Slams, just one length away from Rafael Nadal’s all-time record. The ‘Djoker’ enhanced his season by also winning the ATP Finals, the Masters 1000 in Rome, the ATP 500 in Astana and the ATP 250 in Tel Aviv.
A few days ago, Djokovic was named ‘best ambassador of Serbia in the world’ by the association ‘321 Serbia’ Being unable to attend the ceremony, it was his father Srdjan who received the award.
Srdjan opens up on Nole Djokovic
Novak Djokovic has been recognized as the “best ambassador of Serbia in the world” by the association 321 Serbia.
But having been unable to attend the ceremony, his father, Srdjan, collected the prize for him and delivered an extremely strong speech on Nole’s childhood in the former Yugoslavia. “Novak worked during the bombings and the sanctions, the destruction of Serbia and the Serbian people.
He rose from the ashes that were sprinkled on us. Novak showed that nothing is impossible when you really want it. In the worst moments, he trained under the bombs, but he did not give up. With his work and his efforts, he showed that he came from a fantastic nation, the Serbian nation.
Be proud to be Serbs and that Novak is part of the Serbian people”, proclaimed the father of the man with 21 Grand Slam titles. Kim Clijsters believes Novak Djokovic will be a force to reckon with at the 2023 Australian Open.
“Amazing. The way that he’s able to leave a lot of the negative, the way that he’s able to put that behind him and kind of use it all in a force on the court to play better and be even more focused, I absolutely admire it,” Clijsters expressed.
“I wasn’t in Australia when that whole thing was going on, but I can imagine it’s really tough to go through, not just for him but for the team and everyone involved. It’s a crazy situation,” she added.
