THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 1, 2023

Novak Djokovic

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Welcome to the press conference for Novak Djokovic.

Novak, tell us how you're feeling going into the fortnight.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes, good afternoon, everyone.

I feel great. Obviously coming into Wimbledon, it's always an honor, it's always a privilege. It was always a dream tournament for me when I was a kid, so...

Even though I have had plenty of success here in my career, have played this tournament so many times, I still feel like that young Novak coming to the tournament and really being able to live his dream.

It's an amazing tournament, the biggest one in my eyes. Of course, I'm super excited to start off 2023 Wimbledon.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

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 Novak Djokovic do you see in him?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: 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 I think maturely for a 20-year-old. 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.

I think for someone his age, it's impressive, everything he's doing. With his team, of course, he's got Juan Carlos Ferrero, former No. 1 in the world in his corner, who can guide him and mentor him. They've been functioning very well as a team.

For me, I don't need to have Carlos or anybody else really to find that extra drive and motivation when I enter slams because I know that I have to win seven matches to win a title. So whoever I get to face across the net, it doesn't make a difference for me. I need to do what I need to do. Most of my attention is focused on my body and my mind, my game, trying to I guess bring it to the optimal state where I'm performing my best every match.

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?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don't feel more relaxed, to be honest (smiling). 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.

Even though, of course, a lot of people are coming up to me and congratulating me, reminding me of the historic success, which is nice of course, it's very flattering, but at the same time my mind was already and is already directed towards Wimbledon, what's the next slam, what's the next task.

That's the life of the professional tennis player. I think that kind of mentality is necessary for I guess maintenance of that intensity. If you really want to have a chance and have a go at more slam titles, you need to maintain that concentration and devotion.

So, yeah, that's where I am. Of course, part of me is very, very proud and very thrilled to be able to be in this position and have 23 slams. I want to try to use every Grand Slam opportunity I have at this stage where I'm feeling good in my body, feeling motivated and playing very good tennis, to try to get more.

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?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: That's a good point. I think you're right. 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.

It does take time - more than any other surface - to really get used to it. But I think in the probably last 10 years of my career, I've adapted very quickly to the surface. I think the results here are a testament to that.

Also the fact that I have not played a lead-up tournament to Wimbledon many times. I actually played I think maybe Queen's, what was it, '18, Eastbourne in '17, and that's it. Before that or after that, I haven't really played any week on grass before Wimbledon.

That's kind of tricky because you really want to have a couple of matches. I normally play Stoke Park or Hurlingham at least one or two matches to try to get that feeling of match play.

I don't know. When I enter the Centre Court, I guess it just awakens something in me and I'm able to perform at a very high level.

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, it's record on women's rights and LGBTQ rights. As a leader of your sport, what do you think about the prospect of some sort of arrangement with Saudi Arabia, perhaps hosting tournaments?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I think the president of ATP and WTA are going to probably answer those questions better than I in terms of what strategically they think is the right move for tennis.

I think personally was just question of time when they were to start some kind of negotiations or conversations in tennis to try to enter tennis.

They've done that with pretty much all other global sports, except maybe basketball. We see what's happening in football for the last few years, the stars that are going there for tremendous amounts of money. We know that Formula 1 is there, all the other sports, golf, et cetera. You mentioned golf.

I think that we as individual sport on a global level are probably closest to golf in terms of how we see sports. I think from that example we can probably learn a lot, some positives, some negatives, and try to structure a deal if it's going in that direction in a proper way that is going to protect the integrity and tradition and history of this sport, but still be able to grow it in such way that it will be appropriate.

Q. You mentioned it was just a few days after Roland Garros that you started thinking about what you needed to do for the grass court season. Is there a process that you go through after you have a big achievement, after you win a slam, where you give yourself some time to decompress a little bit and recharge? What is it that you do? Can you take us through what those first days are like, then what happens, you just wake up in the morning ready to go?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It really depends. For example, this time I went with my wife for a trip, just the two of us. We went for some hiking. It was quite active rest for me actually after Roland Garros. I was hiking and doing a lot of activities in the nature for five, six days the week after Paris. Spent some time with her, quality time.

Then I came back and spent some further time with kids, then I really started training basically. Also there on that island where we were having our holiday, I was doing some gym (smiling).

It's this kind of a mindset where it becomes a lifestyle of taking care of your body. For me, it's more than work, it's actually, I don't know, kind of a habit that I have that allows me to take care of my body in a proper way so that I'm still able to keep going at the highest level.

As I mentioned, you have very little time between the finals of French Open and first round of Wimbledon. You can't really, I guess, let loose with your body and eat what you want or not sleep, not work out, then try to put yourself in a great shape in a matter of seven or eight days to be able to perform at the slams. That's not going to work.

I never really allow myself to have -- not because I'm not allowed to, to allow myself to, like, let loose and not I guess stretch, not do the daily routines, not do something for my body, not eat well or sleep well. It's just because I don't want to.

I actually love the healthy lifestyle. It makes me feel good. I have more energy. I'm better to myself, to others. Then, of course, it also helps I guess maintain certain level of fitness while you're not playing with the racquet on the court, when you're not training actual tennis. When you come back to the tennis court, you feel you haven't lost much.

The endurance part is something you're losing a little bit, the tonus of the muscles. It has to come back. It comes back with playing. It comes back with a specific program you put in place with your team.

There's always something. It's kind of a 365-day-a-year dedication. It's more lifestyle for me. It's not an obstacle. It's not really something that I feel like it's a burden. It's just I choose to do that, and I like it.