“Tennis means a lot to me and I do my best to give back to this sport everything it has given me,” Novak Djokovic confessed after his Paris glory. To him, his career is “complete,” but his sole focus remains on playing for his nation and in grand slam events. Despite being unable to clinch a title this year, the Serbian, who fell to the No. 4 spot from No. 1, looks forward to “competing” and “improving” his game. And after a US Open upset, Djokovic is back in action in Shanghai, where he revealed about his future plans and what fuels his drive to success still now!

After fulfilling his lifelong dream of winning a gold medal, Novak Djokovic successfully completed the golden career slam record! Moreover, at 37 years of age, the Serb is the only ATP player to have a triple career grand slam and who has won all the Big Titles! Besides surpassing his on-court rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, in terms of staying at the top spot in the sport, Djokovic has a grand slam count (24) more than his rivals. Therefore, now, the inevitable question is: does he still have the hunger for more? 

Luckily, it turns out that he has! Before stepping into the tournament of the Shanghai Masters for the 10th time, Djokovic sat down for a pre-tournament press conference. There, one reporter asked him, “If you could describe how big your love for tennis still is?” To this, Djokovic, who played in the Davis Cup after his US Open third-round exit, said, “My love for tennis will never feed away. I have a lot of emotions when I am playing. And not particularly only in the tournament, but also in practice sessions. Sometimes it’s not always going your way, but I think my relationship with tennis goes much deeper than a tournament or a year or success or failure.”

Novak talks about his love for the sport 🥹
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Furthermore, Djokovic, who admitted that he ran “out of gas” in New York because of exhaustion after winning the Olympics, said, “It’s a sport that I fell in love with when I was very young. I still have a love for the sport. Even when I retire from professional tennis, I’m going to stay in tennis, stay involved in different roles because I feel like I owe this sport a lot for what it has been given to me.” 

Djokovic, who embraced the sport at age four and turned pro in 2003, is experiencing a grand slam title drought for the first time since 2017. Nevertheless, the Serb, who had knee surgery this year, remains optimistic about playing the sport despite the setbacks. Displaying that same enthusiasm, Djokovic further revealed his love for playing in China, where he has won five titles in the past!

“I wanted to play in China,” says Novak Djokovic about his Shanghai Masters tournament!

The last time fans saw Novak Djokovic play in China was against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the QFs in 2019, a match which he eventually lost. Currently, the Serb is coming back to the “quick” courts of Shanghai, which drive him to “serve” well and use it to his advantage. Moreover, per him, it is one of the “happiest places” that he has played in his career, where he has gathered many memories. 

Sharing his love for the tournament during the pre-tournament press conference, he confessed, “I wanted to play in China… I said, ‘Okay, I need to play the tournament in Shanghai, it’s the biggest event in China and one of the great 1000 events we have on Tour’. I missed being in China.” Calling this as the “most spectacular” event and praising the stadium and people of the country, Djokovic wishes to earn a fifth title (after 2018’s victory). With his 34-5 W/L record in the event, Novak Djokovic aims to show his eternal love for his favorite sport once again!