Life is smiling at Novak Djokovic. He is in a great professional moment after winning his 24th Grand Slam a few weeks ago at the US Open, a victory that also allowed him to regain the ATP number 1.
However, not everything has always gone smoothly for the Serbian, who even thought about withdrawing not long ago.. In particular, it was in 2018 when Nole put down his racket, as his wife admitted in an interview with journalist Graham Bensinger on TikTok.
“After losing to Benoit Paire in Miami in 2018, he wanted out. He gathered all the members of his team and said: You know what? It’s over, I’ll leave it. We cried and told him we couldn’t, that it wasn’t the time. He doesn’t want to play tennis and he doesn’t want to see a ball pass in front of him,” explained Jelena Ristic.
Mentally exhausted due to the severe injuries he was going through before and after the sudden separation of his coach Andre AgassiNovak quickly decided to stay away from the slopes, a choice that changed after a few days.
“He doesn’t want to know anything about it. But I love tennis and I take the kids to the court every day. On the third day Novak arrived. He saw how much fun we were having and this was not a workout he had been used to for years. Novak asked me if he could play and get a racket, but I refused. I started teasing him and told him to give up. That we have to play tennis. In the end he served and said he felt good, then he came back every day to finally call his coach Marian Vajda and ask him to continue training,” the wife of the world number 1 concluded.
We remember that Novak Djokovic and Andre Agassi ended their professional relationship in early 2018 after a long history of disagreement.
“My goal is to help him, but if I’m hindering his progress or interfering with it, I’d better get out of his way. There was a delicate balance and my relationship with him was, too often, to disagree. But that’s okay too. There’s no problem with that,” Agassi explained in 2021 in an interview with CNBC.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
