New Delhi: Novak Djokovic is chasing history at The Championships, as Wimbledon is known. The third Grand Slam of the season begins on Monday in London.
The 36-year-old Serbian is bidding for a record eighth title on grass, which will enable him to come at par with Roger Federer.
Prior to Roger Federer, the record of seven men’s singles titles in Wimbledon was held by American Pete Sampras. They say, records are meant to be broken. And that is what Novak is aiming to do over the coming fortnight, ending July 16.
Djokovic knows, there is history to be made, even after winning a record assortment of 23 Grand Slam titles, which gives him the tag of The Greatest. At a time when Rafael Nadal is injured and Roger Federer has retired, the Serbian player has an imposing presence. During an interview at the Main Press Centre at Wimbledon in London, Djokovic responded to a gamut of questions.
Q. How you’re feeling going into the fortnight.
I feel great. Obviously coming into Wimbledon, it’s always an honour and privilege. It was always a dream tournament for me when I was a kid. Even though, I have had plenty of success here in my career, I have played this tournament so many times. But I still feel like that young Novak coming to the tournament and really being able to live his dream.
It’s an amazing tournament. Of course, I am super excited to start off 2023 Wimbledon.
Q. Winning most of your Grand Slam titles, you have to beat the same people over years and years. At the age you are, how invigorating is it when someone like Carlos comes along, a new challenge? How much of the 20-year-old Djokovic do you see in him?
Well, there’s always someone out there. There always has been and always will be. Carlos is a very nice guy who is carrying himself very maturely for a 20-year-old. (He) already has plenty of accolades to his name, making history of the game so young. I think he’s great for the game as a player who brings a lot of intensity, energy on the court, and also being very humble and having a nice personality off the courts.
Q. Generally, do you feel more relaxed now that you have number 23? How do you ensure you don’t lose any motivation like what happened after the 2016 French Open?
I don’t feel more relaxed. I still feel hungry for success, for more Grand Slams, more achievements in Tennis.
As long as, there’s that drive, I know that I’m able to compete at the highest level. If that goes down, then I guess I’ll have to face probably different circumstances and have a different approach. So far there’s still the drive. A few days after Roland Garros, I was already thinking about preparation for grass and what needs to be done.
The Tennis season is such that it doesn’t really give you much time to really reflect or enjoy. Of course, I did enjoy with my family, but not for so long.
Q. You always said that winning Roland Garros was a Mt. Everest for you. With the grass, Wimbledon in particular, has it been the tournament or the surface that has best showcased your development as a tennis player?
That’s a good point. I haven’t played much in my childhood days on grass. Actually I’d never played on the grass court before I was 17. I always dreamt of winning Wimbledon. That was always a goal.
When I started playing on grass, for the first few years, I actually thought I was doing pretty well. I got to top hundred in the world first time here in Wimbledon. Qualified, played some tough five-setters in the opening round and reached the fourth round as a teenager, managed to get to the top hundred. So this tournament has a lot of significance also statistically for me in my career. Then for several years I did struggle, I think, to really take my game on the grass courts to the next level because naturally for me it feels better to slide, and grass is really not a forgiving surface when it comes to sliding, extreme sliding motions on the court. So I had to learn how to move, how to walk, how to play, how to read the bounces, et cetera.
Grass court is the rarest surface we have in the sport, which is contrary to what you had maybe 40, 50, 60 years ago where you played three out of four slams were played on grass. Nowadays that’s not the case.
Q. After what we saw in the world of Golf with Saudi Arabia, now there’s exploration on the part of the ATP and WTA about doing business in Saudi Arabia, a country with a lot of money, also a country with a lot of questions about its human rights record. As a leader of your sport, what do you think about the prospect of some sort of arrangement with Saudi Arabia, perhaps hosting tournaments?
Well, I think the president of ATP and WTA are going to probably answer those questions