Novak Djokovic’s pre-season
Novak Djokovic is preparing to get back on the court as he will be playing his newest rival Carlos Alcaraz in a high-profile exhibition event on December 27th.
The World No 1 and No 2 are the biggest draws in men’s tennis right now and with Saudi Arabian sporting chiefs keen to attract the world’s biggest names to play in their kingdom, it was only natural for a big-money offer to be presented to Djokovic and Alcaraz.
The two giants of the men’s game will be joined in Saudi Arabia by WTA Tour stars Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur, who will play an exhibition match on December 26.
With a date in Saudi Arabia looming large for Djokovic, he was always likely to base his pre-season camp in the region and he has been having plenty of fun in Dubai in recent days.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has been lapping up the warm sunshine during his time in Dubai and found time to interrupt his time on the court to hit some balls with promising teenage player Timur Gordeev.
The 13-year-old has become a star on social media platforms playing against some of the big names in tennis and he hit the jackpot when Djokovic agreed to play a few points with him in Dubai.
“Thank you very much, Novak! Timmy couldn’t sleep that night, knowing that Novak had invited him to hit with him. How important this is for him,” read the message thanking Djokovic for playing with ‘Timmy’ from his grateful family.
Timmy lives for tennis; if he is not playing tennis, he is discussing tennis or watching tennis. Nole, you are a legend! You are the greatest of all time on the court and a great person. You always support and care about everyone around you and are kind and open to all people.
We love you very much! May your good deeds return to you with even greater luck! We wish you a great season!”
https://www.instagram.com/timmy_superstar/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=8b7b2554-efdf-419b-814b-7a8557105ed8
Novak Djokovic has also been filmed enjoying some down time in Dubai, as he enjoyed a fun game of volleyball on the beach, with a few of his concerned fans worried he may pick up an injury in what appeared to be a competitive game.
He will be hoping the relaxation time will put him in the right frame of mind for his match with Alcaraz next week, as he admits he is relishing the chance to play in Saudi Arabia.
“I think that we as individual sport on a global level are probably closest to golf in terms of how we see sports,” said Djokovic.
“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.
“It was just a question of time when they were to start some kind of negotiations or conversations in tennis to try to enter tennis.
“Saudi Arabia has 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.”
Djokovic will move from Saudi Arabia to Austraia as he leads the Serbian team at the United Cup and his opening match of the team event will be played against China’s Zhang Zhizhen on New Year’s Eve in Perth.
