After enjoying a breakout year on the tour, Filip Krajinović has praised the support he has received from former world No.1 Novak Djokovic.
The 25-year-old has risen almost 200 places in the world rankings since January. On the Challenger tour, he has won more singles titles than any other player this year. Winning a total of five trophies. Then at last week’s Paris Masters he shocked the tournament by reaching the final. Defeating seeded players John Isner and Sam Querrey. He was denied the trophy by Jack Sock, who prevailed in three sets.
“I barely slept for the last five-six days and I have eaten very little.” he told Sport Klub about his time in Paris. “I wanted to sleep, I was telling myself: ‘Come on, try, you have got a match tomorrow,’ but it was impossible because of the adrenaline – I just kept thinking about tactics, potential on court situations… It was all messed-up in my head, I didn‘t sleep after the finals either.’
“I think that my tears have shown what my feelings were and what have I gone through in my life.”
Prior to his success, Krajinović contemplated retiring from the sport after being hit by a series of injury setbacks with his shoulder and wrist. Dropping outside the top 200 last year, he lost contract deals with Nike, IMG and Wilson. All of which decided that they didn’t want to extend their partnership with the Serbian. Something he believes the sponsors now ‘regret’ due to his successful 2017. He opted to continue playing tennis after receiving some valuable advice from his father.
“I‘ve thought about retirement many times, I didn‘t have the energy anymore, I was playing small tournaments, I even told my dad I want out. But he told me: “Son, tennis is the only good thing in life you are really good at – be strong, you still have enough time, keep on playing.” He explained.
“So I kept on… I didn‘t even want to go to Helibronn challenger, I wanted to take a one month break and just cool of, but I went there, won the title from the qualies and it went on from there.”
The Djokovic effect
Another instrumental person for Krajinović’s is 12-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic. Throughout his career, he has received support and guidance from the 30-year-old. Last week Djokovic uploaded an Instagram post praising Krajinovic’s run in Paris. In the post he wrote ‘This is proof that success is guaranteed when you love what you do and believe in yourself!’
“He has helped me a few times and we are talking always, he always has my side. Whenever I need an advice or practice, he‘s there, he even invited me to Monte Carlo to work and to hang out.“ Said Krajinovic.
Djokovic is Serbia’s most successful tennis player of all time. So far in his career, he has won 68 ATP titles, including 30 at Masters level and 12 in the majors. He is also one of the first athletes from his country to win an Olympic medal in 2008 following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Due to his success, Djokovic has become a mentor and icon for players such as Krajinović.
“It is something extremely important for me, for all of us younger, because Novak was our idol. With him, you can learn something new every day, I have used on and off the court a lot of things he was telling me about.” The 25-year-old said about the support he has received from Djokovic.
Krajinović has now risen to 33rd in the world, securing him a year-end position in the world’s top 100 for the first time in his career. Posting a main draw win-loss of 53-18 this season, he is closing in on being seeded at a grand slam event. Positioning him in a strong position for next year.
“The rest of the guys have seen that I can play, so a lot more will be expected of me, but I am ready to deal with it.” He said about his next step on the tour. “I will have to play better at Grand Slams and that is why my primary goal for the off-season is to put on some muscles and to be physically fit for long matches and long season. I hope that I will be seeded for Melbourne.”
Currently Krajinović and Djokovic are the only two Serbian players ranked in the top 50 on the ATP Emirates rankings.
