Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka advanced to the quarterfinals with ease. Novak Djokovic was interviewed by Serbian reporters about recent changes in his tennis life: Ubitennis.net was given exclusive details regarding the new priorities of the world No. 2.
PARIS – After cruising in their round of 16 matches, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka are on a collision course for a potential semi-final encounter at the French Open. In the quarters, they will have to overcome the challenges presented by Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic respectively. Yesterday Wawrinka defeated Gael Monfils – the last Frenchman standing – 7-5,7-6,6-2, while Murray dismissed the 21-year-old and No. 53 ranked Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-3,6-4,6-2.
The Swiss won this tournament in 2015, while the Scot lost the 2016 final to Djokovic. In the bottom half of the draw, Nadal and Djokovic are the favorites to reach the semis for a highly anticipated clash of the titans.
Nadal is the overwhelming favorite in his quarterfinal match against fellow Spaniard Carreno-Busta, while Djokovic will have to face a tough challenge against Dominic Thiem of Austria, despite a recent 6-0,6-1 win in Rome. Djokovic has certainly gone through multiple problems since he triumphed at Roland Garros for the first-time last year: He has been dealing with personal, psychological and technical problems. He fired his entire coaching team, including Becker and Vajda, and failed to add more titles to his 12 Grand Slams. He started a new collaboration with Andre Agassi and signed a new endorsement deal with Lacoste: Both agreements proved to be formidable marketing operations.
Thanks to a couple of Serbian colleagues that exclusively interviewed Novak, Ubitennis.net was given permission to publish some of the most significant Djokovic’s statements concerning his past, present and future.
- “Agassi doesn’t always have time to work with me, so Andre and I are looking for a second coach. Ideally, he should be a former player, possibly younger, available full time and capable of giving our team a positive energy.”
- “Since I became a father, I haven’t been the same tennis player. My priorities have changed.”
- “I read somewhere that I lost matches because of my vegetarian and gluten-free diet. It is a ridiculous statement.”
- “Serbian people are usually called eagles, but my grandfather Vlada and our Montenegrin roots are more similar to falcons that don’t attack wounded prey.”
- “I am not superstitious. But I always forget my cell and my wallet.”
- “I would unconditionally do everything for my country. I am not asking for anything in return, such as schools or monuments named after me. I would like to thank Air Serbia for naming an airplane after me and the national post office for a stamp with my picture. It is very flattering and I will always give everything that I can to my country. I will always be Serbian from the bottom of my heart, even if I have been living in Monte-Carlo for 10 years and I am always travelling around the world. Every time I go back to Serbia, I always have butterflies in my stomach.”
- “It is wonderful to show Paris to my son Stefan. We went to the Museum of Natural History and he was fascinated with the animals. He was also very excited when we went up the Eiffel Tower, he wanted to watch Paris with the telescope but I didn’t have any euro coins with me. I had to tell him that the telescope was broken. He is a clever little boy, he speaks Serbian and English and knows a little bit of French that he picked up by living in Monte-Carlo. My manager Edoardo Artaldi has been teaching him a few Italian words as well”.
- “We haven’t decided the name of our second child yet.”
- “Someone said that it was Jelena who pushed me to change my diet. It is ridiculous: She has been eating meat because she is pregnant. I have no doubt about how healthy my diet is.”
Djokovic’s famous diet was born after he met Dr. Igor Cetojevic – who practices his profession in Cyprus – during a Davis Cup tie. Novak then suffered from several allergies and decided to start working with him after losing to Tsonga at the 2010 Australian Open. Novak was ahead two sets to one, 6-7,7-6,6-1, when he started suffering from stomach cramps and had to hide in the locker room while throwing up. After he came back to the court, he ended up losing the match in the fifth set. The doctor convinced him that the problem needed to be addressed and hopefully solved: That is when Djokovic’s new diet started to materialize. Dr. Cetojevic is in Paris these days: He is working with the No. 1 player of the junior tournament, the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.
The first meeting with Pepe Imaz – the psychologist that everyone is talking about – took place in Marbella 3 or 4 years ago. At the time Pepe was working with Marko Djokovic, who had fallen into a downward spiral of depression because of the pressure of being constantly compared to his famous brother. Marko needed a psychologist to cheer him up and talk to him in a positive way. That’s when Novak started to appreciate Pepe’s work and decided to use his services as well.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
