Novak Djokovic spoke to the media after beating Kei Nishikori in straight sets in his debut at the ATP World Tour Finals. The World No.1 wasn’t afraid of speaking of immigrants and his personal experience on the matter.
Novak Djokovic spent almost as much time in his post-match press conference than he did on court on Sunday in his debut day at the ATP World Tour Finals. The World No.1 dominated Kei Nishikori in straight sets, losing just 2 games in an impressive first 2015 showing at the O2 Arena.
“Today I had one of the quickest tennis players as an opponent and someone that possesses a lot of talent and loves to play aggressively. But I didn’t allow him to dictate the play. I really think I was at my best. It has been an incredible performance that I was hoping I can have coming into the match, coming into the tournament” said a pleased Novak to the media after the win.
Then the Serb was asked to talk about the refugees crisis and the passage of migrants in Serbia. Novak was full of words in describing his personal experience and his pride in being Serbian, when his country is dealing so well with immigration.
“What is happening in the Middle East has been some terrible circumstances with the war. I heard 1 third of the people in Syria left the country and many of them have passed through Serbia in order to get to their final destination.
I had a chance to get close to them and see what kind of difficulties they are going through on a daily basis. With UNICEF I have had one of the visits in one of the sites in Belgrade. Babies and kids can get to have a play room before they continue their migration. It was very touching it was really hard for me to experience that” told Novak.
The Serb explained how he is exceptionally proud of being Serbian.
“I am very proud as a Serbian seeing what my people have done for these migrants, people that have suffered so much. They offer them shelter, home, food and drink. Those are the most basic things in life”.
Novak also entertained the journalists with funny answers. For instance when asked if he isn’t afraid of losing his Uniqlo sponsor after treating so badly another Uniqlo guy like Nishikori, Djokovic had a laugh and said: “I think I am safe for some time“.
Finally the word No.1 revealed how there is no particular secret to his success, just hard work and a lot of experience. Having won his first Slam at 21 years of age, Novak has had his chance to be on the tour for a while and learn from each defeat and win.
