Novak Djokovic reveals his three favourite sports idols!

A victory just in time to celebrate New Year’s Eve. 2023 could not have ended in a better way for the Serbian fans who flocked to Australia to witness their national team’s debut at the 2024 United Cup, especially for the performances of the ATP No.1 Novak Djokovic.

After Nole’s victory in singles and Olga Danilovic’s defeat in women’s, the pair prevailed in the mixed doubles against China, winning the final point seven minutes before the stroke of the new year. In the press conference, the world number one commented on his team’s success, also speaking about his personal goals for 2024.

But first, in the meantime, last December 28th, the cover of the newspaper L’Équipe was dedicated to Djokovic. The Serbian champion received the Champions of Champions award for the incredible season played in 2023. A season in which he won 3 Slam titles, taking 24 Majors, 2 ATP Masters 1000, an ATP 250 tournament and the ATP Finals.

During the interview given to the French newspaper, Djokovic revealed who his greatest sporting idols of all time are.

Novak Djokovic shares his three sports idols!

“My three childhood idols were Pete Sampras, Michael Jordan and Alberto Tomba.

Beyond these names, I appreciate Muhammad Ali, who made an impact with the incredible achievements of him, but also a social impact by inspiring many people with his courage and integrity of him. I respect him a lot. He suffered for it, he was sentenced to prison, he went through many trials.

And that’s why people identify with him even more. He put his career on the line with strong convictions. Alberto Tomba a fantastic guy. I met him for the first time in Serbia, about fifteen years ago. I still remember him. It was a dinner where there were a lot of people.

I was sitting next to him, super happy and he was so funny” We decided that one day we would ski together. I hope that day comes because sooner or later I will be back on the slopes. I played tennis with Pete Sampras, I have to ski with Tomba and play basketball with Jordan.

After that, I may retire from all sports,” said Nole.

On Sunday 31 December 2023 Djokov immediately demonstrated that he is in excellent shape. The Serbian superstar dominated the interesting challenge with Zhizhen Zhang without too much effort.

In the first set the Chinese player tried to hang on to the score, giving up serve only once in the sixth game. The break allowed Nole to manage and win the set 6-3. In the second the Belgrade native was able to raise the level further, immediately going up 4-0 and then closing 6-2.

However, the Serbian team was unable to guarantee overall success after the first two matches: Olga Danilovic, who certainly didn’t start with the forecast, lost rather clearly 6-4, 6-2 to the young Quinwen Zheng. What decided everything was the mixed doubles (the last match of 2023), which recorded the presence of all four tennis players playing singles. Djokovic and Danilovic were able to withstand the return of the Chinese and clinch the victory.