US OPEN

August 24, 2024

Novak Djokovic

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Novak, welcome back to New York. How special was it to celebrate your gold medal out there during Kids' Day and tell us about your last days since your historical win in Paris.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, it's great to be back in New York. Hello, everyone. It was a very nice moment obviously that I was allowed to experience by the USTA and US Open an hour ago at the Arthur Ashe Kids' Day, a great tribute video, and obviously some fun with hitting the targets in the end.

Just kind of sharing my thoughts, my emotions and experiences of reflection on what is for me I think now when I lock back the greatest achievement and greatest highlight of my career overall, winning the gold for Serbia.

Had some heartbreaking losses at the Olympic Games, worked very hard to try to get myself in a position to fight for gold. And at 37 I thought, you know, I don't know, could this be the last chance? Maybe. So I had to push more than ever than I have ever done.

Turned out to be one of the best performances I had in years overall throughout the entire tournament. Of course in the finals against Carlos, it was kind of a dream scenario really having my wife and children there, the entire nation watching. Just a very proud moment of experiencing the golden medal, you know, around my neck with Serbian anthem and Serbian flag. Very, very special. Probably the most intense emotions I have ever had on a tennis court.

I was saying that carrying the flag, being a flag bearer for my country, opening Games in 2012 in London at the Olympic Games, was the best feeling I had overall in my professional career, surpassed every slam that I won, until I won the gold medal. I think the moment of when I achieved it, how I achieved it, after years of trying, the journey, that was the way it was, I think makes it even more unique.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. The first time you came in New York is 2003 for the junior tournament. I would like to know which memories do you keep from the first time you discovered the city? How did you enjoy New York at 16 years old?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, I do remember that I did not play US Open junior match outdoors. We did play indoors because it was raining. We had to travel by bus to a different facility to play. So I didn't really experience the US Open at that point in time.

But soon after I played my first main draw as a professional player. I had couple of great matches and some marathon matches with Gaël Monfils, I remember, and Mario Ancic, if I'm not mistaken, in my first US Open as a pro.

Yeah, it was amazing to be part of the Grand Slam and, you know, play on the outside courts, just very different to the stadium court. I remember the first time I played at the Ashe Stadium, it was overwhelming, you know, for a young player.

So it's been quite a journey. Really grateful for everything that I experienced since then (smiling).

Q. Since 2008 you first competed in the Olympics, you came all the way to 2024 to win your first gold. There has been a weird stat at the US Open that no man has defended the US Open title since 2008. What do you need to do differently this year as defending champion to change the stat?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: To try to win the title, I think, for starters (laughter).

Yeah, I didn't know about that. I knew it was probably the case for five, ten years, but I didn't know it was that long.

Yeah, I mean, hopefully that changes this year. I mean, that's the goal. You know, the goal is always for me to try to go all the way to the finals and fight for the trophy. I mean, that kind of mindset or approach is no different for me this year.

You know, people would ask me, you know, now that you have basically won everything with the golden medal, what else is there to win? I still feel the drive. You know, I still have the competitive spirit. I still want to make more history and enjoy myself on the tour. I still hope to inspire many young people to watch tennis, play tennis.

Those are some of the reasons why I still keep on going. Grand Slams are the pillars of our sport. They are "the" most important historical tennis events that we have. So if you don't get pumped and inspired to play your best tennis at Grand Slams, it's hard to do that anywhere else.

US Open is a slam that holds the biggest tennis court in the world, tennis stadium. You know, night sessions at US Open are very famous, most famous in our sport.

I'm going to play my first match here Monday night, so I can't wait to be under the lights. The noise, the energy of the stadium is just different from anything else.

You know, I look forward to it.

Q. I wanted to ask you, as a top player, as sort of statesman of the game, involved with the PTPA, and big thoughts about the game, I wanted to get your perspective on what happened with Jannik. Some players have wondered aloud whether it's a fair system, whether different rules are applied to different players. I wanted to ask your thoughts on that case.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, instances like this are the very reason we founded PTPA. The ethos of PTPA is the player, is representing 100% the players' rights and making sure that you can cover every possible corner there is to cover so that the player is able to not only endure on the tour but to live out of the sport. We talked about the depth of the rankings and the players that are able to live out of this sport, and I think that needs to be improved.

So there is a lot of topics that are being talked about and being worked on from the PTPA standpoint. PTPA has not yet been, I think, acknowledged as much as we would like it to be acknowledged in the ecosystem. Many reasons why, you know, but I'm not going to get into that.

As far as Jannik's case, you know, as I said, these kind of instances are the very reason that why we founded PTPA that is always advocating for fair protocols, clear protocols for standardized approaches to these kind of cases.

I understand the frustration of the players is there because of lack of consistency. As I understood, his case was cleared the moment basically it was announced. But, you know, I think five or six months passed since the news was brought to him and his team.

So, yeah, there is a lot of issues in the system. We see lack of standardized and clear protocols. I can understand the sentiments of a lot of players that are questioning whether they are treated the same.

Hopefully the governing bodies of our sport will be able to learn from this case and have a better approach for the future. I think collectively there has to be a change, and I think that's obvious.

Many players -- without naming any of them -- I'm sure you know already who these players are, have had similar or same, pretty much the same cases, where they haven't had the same outcome, and now the question is whether it is a case of the funds, whether a player can afford to pay a significant amount of money for a law firm that would then more efficiently represent his or her case.

I don't know. Is that a case or not? That's something really I feel like we have to collectively investigate more, to look into the system and understand how these cases don't happen, meaning not the case itself, but how we can standardize everything so that every player, regardless of his ranking or status or profile, is able to get the same kind of treatment.

So, yeah, I would say that's probably the overall, I guess, my opinion and observation of this entire case of what we have been reading and observing and talking about the last few days.

Q. I was wondering, at this point of your career, there is not much left on your checklist tennis-wise, so do your matchups against specific players factor into your long-term planning? For example, after Wimbledon, almost immediately you have this huge success against Carlos. How does that result impact your planning about hanging with these younger talents, the ones who seem most likely to pose a challenge in the years to come.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, I have been around quite a few years, and different generations of players, you know, kind of switching and the new players, exciting players coming into the tour, the new rivalries are being created, which I think is important for the tour, in general.

These kind of rivalries that I have with Jannik and Carlos, in particular, of course, along with other guys from the generation before, like, Zverev, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, you know, are the kind of matchups that still bring that joy of competition to me and inspire me to really, on a weekly basis when I'm not competing, push myself to perfect the game and to give myself an ability to be able to run for hours with them on the biggest stage.

Of course, you know, there is a big age difference, but, you know, that's still not, I guess, affecting me in a big way. I feel good about myself, about my game, about where I am and what I have achieved in the last several years, but of course I have to be a bit more selective in my strategy of calendar and how I pick and choose events and where I want to be at my prime and play the best tennis.

So when it comes to that, it's Grand Slams and representing my country. That's what actually motivates me the most. That's what drives me the most still. Yeah, that's related to the on-court, I guess, competition-driven motivation.

Then I also have a lot of things off the court that still run my juices. I love being, you know, part of the tennis story, and PTPA that we talked about is also something that motivates me that, you know, that I have been working on for many years, even before it was founded, and tried always to advocate for players and even before that in the player council within the ATP structure.

So I feel like it's also part of my responsibility as being somebody who has a sound name and a status in sport, and a lot of players look up, you know, to me and Federer, Nadal, you know, the legends of the game, and they look for some kind of guidance and they carefully listen to our words and actions, and they hope to get that kind of leadership, as well.

So that's what I personally feel. I always try to balance things out, but I think I can contribute to certain things in a positive way, and that's why I'm still here.