2024 has not been a good year for Novak Djokovic on the tennis court. The Serb has yet to win a title on the Tour, even though he won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. His third-round elimination at the US Open saw the 24-time Major champion end a year without a Major title first time since 2017.
Since New York, Djokovic has yet to play a Tour-level match. However, he was in action at the Davis Cup tie, representing Serbia against Greece. The Serb was at his regal best, dispatching Ioannis Xilas in straight sets 6-0, 6-1. The former World No. 1 teamed up with Hamad Medjedovic and defeated the Greek pair of Petros Tsitsipas and Aristotelis Thanos, giving the tie to Serbia and helping them qualify for the Davis Cup qualifiers for the next edition.
Throughout 2024, Djokovic has played a truncated schedule, playing only a handful of events between Majors. At the Davis Cup, the Serb made it clear that shortly, his major focus would be only on Grand Slams and fulfilling his national commitments while playing for Serbia.
“No. It’s not my goal at all, nor the ATP rankings. I am done with those tournaments. Whether I’ll play it this year or the next, I don’t know. From now on, priorities are gonna be Grand Slams and playing for Serbia,” said Djokovic.
Djokovic has won the year-ending ATP Finals for a record-breaking seven times, the last of which came last year when he defeated Jannik Sinner in the final.
Novak Djokovic opens up about his parenting stance and his desire to spend more time with his family
In a recent interview with Blic, Novak Djokovic opened up about his parenting decision of not letting his children Tara and Stefan have phones at an early age, despite having arguments with his wife. The Serb claimed that having phones would mean abiding by a herd mentality that would hinder his children from having an active life.
If everyone does something, the herd behaves like this, you have to follow them. Well, it doesn’t have to be like that. This is where I think we differ from others, because we are stubborn and active,” he added in the interview.
Djokovic emphasized that he was quite determined for his children to have an active sports life, be it tennis or any other sport.
I keep on in a way reminding them how important it is to be active, just do sports, I mean whether it is tennis or whatever it is, just be active, be out there. So I try to take them on with me on tennis every day, even if it’s the match day I want them to be here with me,” he added.
The Serb has been quite vocal in recent times regarding his desire to spend more time with his family rather than on the tennis court. He admitted that he does not have any long-term goals on the Tour as of now.
“Family life is very important to me. I want to be with my wife and children, to be a part of their everyday life – something I haven’t been able to do for many years. I have to balance things out, so we’ll see. I still want to chase titles and records, but at the same time I have to be sensible and prioritize certain tournaments over others,” he added.
Novak Djokovic was at an exhibition match against his long-time friend Grigor Dimitrov
From wearing custom denim jackets to making a fun-filled striptease, Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov’s exhibition match at the Arena Sofia Hall in Bulgaria saw the players having fun. The Serb and the Bulgarian participated in what was termed as the “Tennis Gala” and gave the audience their money’s worth by their antics on the court.
The Serb invited a young ball boy to play in between the matches, much to the latter’s joy and the crowd’s appreciation. In the end, it was Dimitrov who won a fun-filled match.On the ATP Tour, however, the Serb enjoys a dominant head-to-head against the Bulgarian, holding a 12-1 advantage.
