Novak Djokovic has revealed it was hard to leave the PTPA but believes it was the right decision as he now turns his attention towards a 25th Grand Slam title in Melbourne.
It’s been an eventful year for the 24-time Grand Slam champion without even stepping onto court for a competitive match.
Apart from Djokovic’s straight sets win over Frances Tiafoe at an exhibition match on Rod Laver Arena, the Serb has not had any competitive tournaments before the first Grand Slam of the year.
Despite that Djokovic is in high spirits as he bids for an eleventh title in Melbourne, “Well, happy new year to everyone. It’s great to be back another time,” Djokovic started his press conference by saying.
“21st time is amazing. I mean, the amount of times I have been coming to Australia, I think for the first time qualified for any slam here, back in 2005, and played my first night session, Rod Laver, against Marat Safin, who later went on to win the Grand Slam title here.
“So it’s been a long journey, but very successful one. It’s been my most successful Grand Slam, and I always love playing in Australia. You know, Happy Slam they call it for a reason. You know, we all are motivated to kick-start the season in best possible way.
“Of course for me, you know, I try to not take any of the presented opportunities for granted, and hopefully get the best out of myself this tournament.”
At 38 years of age having achieved pretty much everything in his career, Djokovic is in a relaxed phase of his life.
However, there has been a lot of emphasis on Djokovic winning his 25th Grand Slam title and overtaking Margaret Court’s record.
Talking about the feat Djokovic says he’s still ‘driven’ to win titles at the highest level, “Look, I know that when I’m healthy, when I’m able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together on a given day, I feel like I can beat anybody,” the Serb claimed.
“If I don’t have that self-belief and confidence in myself, I wouldn’t be here definitely sitting here and talking to you guys or competing. I still have the drive, and of course I understand that, you know, Sinner and Alcaraz are playing on a different level right now from everybody else. That’s a fact, but that doesn’t mean that nobody else has a chance. So I like my chances always, in any tournament, particularly here.
“Yeah, there has been a lot of talk about the 25th, but, you know, I try to focus myself on what I have achieved, not what I’m possibly achieving. I mean, I hope it comes to that, but 24 is also not a bad number. I have to appreciate that and remind myself of the amazing career I had.”
As mentioned earlier, it’s not Djokovic’s on-court presence that is making the headlines it’s the news surrounding him off the court after the Serb exited the PTPA.
Explaining his decision, Djokovic said that his name is being used for negative purposes and reflects on his time at the organisation that he and Vasek Pospisil created, “It was a tough call for me to exit the PTPA, but I had to do that, because I felt like my name was used, overused in pretty much every single article or communication channel,” Djokovic stated.
“I felt like, you know, people, whenever they think about PTPA, they think it’s my organization, which is a wrong idea from the very beginning. So this was supposed to be everyone, every player’s organization across the board, men and women. And I also didn’t like the way the leadership was taking the direction of the PTPA, and so I decided to step out.
“Well, it was hard, to be honest, because I’m one of the two co-founders, co-founders of the Canadian PTPA entity, that was nonprofit, along with Vasek, you know. Both Vasek and I have put a lot of heart and soul and energy into founding the PTPA back in 2020 when it was officially founded, but it took years for me, even more years before when I attempted to do that a few times but didn’t make it.
“So that was personally my intention, you know, back in the 2020 when we founded it. I was No. 1 in the world. You know, I always tried to use my voice, my platform, my influence for good, whenever I possibly could, you know, and basically use my platform for the low-ranked players and have their voices heard and their struggles and challenges. I was in the player council obviously within the ATP, you know, structure. So I was president of that council for I think four or five years. I know how system works, and I still have the opinion that the system is failing us, and I think it has to change in terms of the structure, in terms of how it’s set up, how it’s led.
“It is what it is. As I said, you know, I hope they will continue to thrive, to exist, to grow, to develop. Hopefully players will be able to recognize the vision it has. Hopefully the vision will be clear for the people who are still in charge of PTPA. You know, I don’t see it as clear as it was in 2020, you know, but, you know, let’s see what happens.”
Djokovic will hope he can fully focus on his Australian Open campaign when he takes on Pedro Martinez in the second night match on Monday.
