Novak Djokovic responded to an interview in Melbourne following his exit from the Australian Open in the semifinals against Jannik Sinner. The 24-times Grand Slam champion reflected on the cost of traveling around the world for tournaments and not being present as much as he would like while his children are growing up.
At 36 years old, the Serbian has reduced the demands of his schedule in recent years, skipping practically all tournaments below the Masters 1000 level, and even opting out of some of them to save time away. For instance, in the past season, he skipped tournaments like Shanghai and Canada.
‘Nole’ has always been seen with his children during his off-competition periods and spoke about the challenges of being a tennis player and missing out on some important moments as his children grow: “I do struggle with that more and more as time goes on, Australia is a long trip, probably the longest one we have in the entire year.”
“My son is 9, my daughter is 6, every day, every week they change. My daughter’s first tooth fell out and I wasn’t there for that, but at the same time it’s all about balance,” Djokovic said.
Unlike the rest of the top-10 tennis players, Djokovic does not have any tournaments scheduled for February and will only return during the ‘sunshine double,’ where he will have to spend at least four weeks between Indian Wells and the Miami Open. In addition to the tournament days, he will travel to the USA beforehand to prepare in the conditions of each city.
“Dads should play with their children all the time. I mean that’s like my favorite part of the day just when I have their attention and when they have my attention and we are fully present, we play and we invent stuff. It’s the best. I’m getting emotional right now, I miss them, I’ll see them in a few days.” (via Nine Network).