Novak Djokovic’s experience in the Olympic Village three years ago led the tennis star to book his own accommodation for Paris 2024, according to reports.
Unlike Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic has opted out of staying with his fellow Olympians in the provided accommodation for this year’s Games.
The reason stems back to 2021 in Tokyo when Djokovic was hounded by athletes wanting to pick the brains or grab a selfie with the 24-time Grand Slam winner.
“The guy was eating and they would be curious about what is on his plate,” fellow Serbian competitor Jovana Arsic told Nova.rs.
You won’t believe it, it’s terrible… I managed to take a photo with him, I was a little sceptical about it ‘Should I approach him when everyone is bothering him?”
The rower continued: “It takes a lot of energy, then you have to go to the court to do your best, to focus on the game, on some other things. Everyone wants to talk to you, to exchange a few sentences.
“Even I had encounters, and I’m not as big a star as Djokovic, I can imagine how much it drained his energy.”
It appeared to impact Djokovic, at least to a degree. The seven-time Wimbledon winner made it to the semi-finals of the singles competition, but his search for gold was ended by Alexander Zverev.
Hopes of taking home an Olympic medal were slashed in the third-place play-off when Pablo Carreno Busta caused a shock and beat Djokovic to bronze.
The report from the Serbian outlet goes into detail about how Djokovic’s preparations for the Olympics have differed from previous years, including his ‘workcation’ training programme.
Despite reaching the final, it’s mooted Djokovic wasn’t in peak condition at Wimbledon, with the 37-year-old taking himself to Montenegro to train for the Games, while spending time with his family.
Djokovic will be crossing his fingers and hoping the shift in preparations pays off, given this summer is likely to be his last chance to bag an elusive Olympic gold.
It’s the only real thing Djokovic is yet to achieve during his illustrious career, with Paris 2024 set to be his fifth appearance at the Games
Winning gold would also give him the upper hand on both Nadal and Roger Federer, given they too won all four Grand Slams, but missed out on the Olympics prize.
Nadal will have the chance to amend that in Paris, but the Spainaird’s chances are significantly lower than Djokovic’s.
The only tennis player to complete the set was Andre Agassi – the man Djokovic is hoping to emulate in the French capital this summer.
