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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

February 23, 2020

Novak Djokovic

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How do you feel heading into this tournament?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Feel great. I started off the season in best possible way. Came to Dubai with my family, children, so spending a lot of time on the beach, quality family time during the day, playing during the night.

I haven't played in Dubai for I think three years, so I'm looking forward to compete back again at the tournament where I've done well in the past.

I really enjoy this city. I've been coming now traditionally to Dubai in the pre-season for at least seven to 10 days of training before I head to Australia.

I feel very welcomed. There's also a very big Serbian community here so big support on the stands. Can't wait to kick off.

Q. Do you plan to maybe buy a house here?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, not really. Are you offering (smiling)? No, I have no plans.

Q. Did you see the video of Jaziri when he found out he was playing you?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I have.

Q. He kind of predicted it.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes, I have seen the whole story.

Q. How do you see that matchup?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: We are good friends. We got along very well since I came on the tour. He was very nice to me. We know each other well. We trained a lot in Dubai actually, of course the other tournaments.

I've played him here four, five years ago. Yeah, it's quite odd for him to always draw first seeds so many times. He's going to get probably a lot of support, as well. He received a wild card.

He's a very nice guy, very talented. He has a good serve, forehand, plays a lot of slice, mixing up the game. He has a great touch.

Obviously these kind of matchups, he doesn't have much to lose. He's going to go out, he's going to try, probably come out with some shots and a game that will probably disrupt my rhythm, use the momentum, use the crowd the first match. That's why I take it very seriously. I will try to prepare for that one best possible way.

Q. Did you not play enough tennis lately? Why did you decide to play doubles, which you do rarely?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Again, historically the tournaments where I play the most doubles were usually at Indian Wells, Dubai, Monte-Carlo, first tournament of the clay season. Usually when I have a bit of a break of several weeks and I start a new swing of tournaments, I would start also playing doubles as well.

I feel like it's a great way of preparing myself for the singles as well, having some match play. This tournament is going to be different because I'm going to start with singles and then play doubles later on.

I'm glad to play with Marin. We never played together. We've been talking about it for years. I have serious intentions for doubles. I don't play doubles very often, but when I do I like to try to play as best as I possibly can.

I don't have obviously partners that I played with so often in my career. Viktor Troicki is the one I would play with the most. I'm going to play with him in Indian Wells.

I don't play much doubles. Dubai is one of the tournaments where I played a lot of doubles in the past. It's not really surprising to myself that I wanted to be part of this tournament in doubles as well.

Q. (Question about Davis Cup and ATP Cup as well as preparation for the start of the season.)
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think there was only one year where I just played Australian Open skipping Mubadala and the opening week of the season. That was probably due to a very late finish. I decided with the team that it's maybe better to just go to Australia. Most of the times I play at least one lead-up event to Australian Open.

This last season and beginning of this season particularly was quite particular because it was a very late finish, literally last week of November, then we started the season just before New Year's. You had maybe five weeks to rest and prepare. Comparing to other sports is extremely short for the rest and preparations.

It's not the first time. I've experienced that before. I'm really glad I was part of the ATP Cup. We as the Serbian team won the inaugural ATP Cup, which I thought was a great success in general as a competition. It was very well-organized. I actually liked the fact that it was spread out to about 10 days so it gave us time between matchups to rest. We had in the group stages a day between. We moved to a different city in the country to play quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. We enjoyed a lot of support from the Serbian community there.

For me there was not a better way to start off the season. It was the best possible confidence booster for Australian Open.

Q. What about the Davis Cup? Do you think ATP Cup is enough for team competition?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: In which way you mean it's enough?

Q. Davis Cup is stages, you play home and away. This one...
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: The format is very similar. There is some differences. Particularly something that players don't like, I don't as well personally what I don't like with Davis Cup is you don't have a possibility to play at home any more. ATP Cup was like playing at home for us because we had a tremendous support in Australia.

Again, it's 10 years in Australia. It's really difficult to call these competitions World Cups because is there no 'world' if you keep it in one place for 10 years. For 99% of the nations, they will not have the possibility for many, many years to host a tie at home unless you play the qualification tie for the final seven days in Madrid.

I understand there are changes, the need for change. Obviously the older format had its advantages of playing home and away. There was also lack of top players' involvement in Davis Cup because of the scheduling weeks. I understand there was a need to change the format and I supported that.

I think conceptually there are some things that have to be different because they have to allow more nations to host at least group stages, for example. I mean, how many nations you have in Madrid?

Q. 18.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I wouldn't have 18 nations. I would have top four, final four, or elite eight. Then have earlier phase of the year group stages spread out, four teams for every group, hosted in five, six different countries so you allow all these different countries to host these group stages with several teams. I just feel that would resonate more with me personally. I know I've been talking to a lot of players.

It's tough to expect that both Davis Cup and ATP Cup will survive six weeks apart. To be honest, I know it's different because the ATP Cup kicks off the season and it is a different format of the Davis Cup which is the most historic team competition in our sport, the one that we value the most.

Of course, we want to see Davis Cup living for long time. I don't see both of them...

Q. How is it going to change?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, in my opinion, they have to merge. There has been talks about that even before the two competitions were changed into these formats that we have today. I know there has been some extensive talks between ATP and ITF and the Kosmos group to create a solution for the future that would serve both competitions, hopefully creating one super cup.

I think that's necessary because for me personally it will be very difficult to play every single year both competitions, so I'm going to have to choose. I think that's going to be the case for many other players. I don't think this is sustainable model for our tennis.

Q. You're on a winning streak. When you come to a tournament having won so many matches, does that give you confidence? Are you aware that you're on the streak or are you wary of conceding ground?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Of course, I mean, when you win a Grand Slam at the beginning of the season, I've been lucky to win so many Australian Opens, that always started off my year in a great way, in a very positive manner, gave me a lot of confidence. I know that every time I would win Australian Open I would have a great season after that. Hopefully that can be the case again.

I'm aware of the streak. I'm aware of the fact that I'm feeling great on the court. Of course, when you win that many matches, it translates to your high level of confidence.

But I'm aware that it could easily be disturbed, as well, and lost. I try to approach every tournament and every match as a fresh start basically: continuation of the great streak, yes, from the confidence perspective, but fresh start game-wise.

Q. You are world No. 1, won everywhere in the world. Do you think playing for such a long time, is there room for improvement?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes, there is room for improvement. That's my biggest motivation. That's probably one of the biggest reasons why I keep on playing this sport and why I put a lot of effort and dedication every single day.

I feel that tennis is a great place for me to improve not just in tennis but also as a human being to build my character. Tennis, like no other place in life, triggers me, triggers my emotions. It's a great way for me to understand myself on a deeper levels. I see tennis as a great school of life in a way.

I also enjoy it. I really love to hold the racquet. I enjoy the process. I enjoy the journey. I have a great team of people around me that puts a lot of energy and faith in me, in my game. Together we create beautiful things on the court. I'm grateful for that.

Q. How did you feel when you heard your great rival Roger had to pull out of the tournament?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It was a surprise, to be honest. I knew he was struggling with an injury in the Australian Open. I think no one knew really what is the injury, what is the extent of that injury.

I really don't like to see anybody going through a process of surgery. I've been through that once, and hopefully the last time in my life. I know that for doctors, that's routine-like procedure. But it's quite invasive. I know it creates also a psychological trauma.

I'm really sad to see Roger and Kevin Anderson going through that kind of procedures. I hope that they will be back very soon. Roger is Roger. This sport needs him.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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