Tennis is a sport that differs in many ways from other popular sports, and it is difficult to fully compare it with football or basketball. Novak Djokovic, a well-known figure in the world tennis scene, during a guest appearance on Jay Shetty's podcast, spoke openly about relationships between colleagues, emphasizing that they are significantly different compared to other sports.
The Serbian tennis player thus revealed whether younger players ask him for advice and how willing he is to openly share advice.
However, he emphasized that relationships between tennis players are specific and often very complex, completely different from those of basketball or football players.
“We sit next to each other, we warm up next to each other before the big finals. In football and basketball, the opponents don’t see each other until they walk out onto the field. In our sport, we look at each other, the teams look at each other, and the battle already begins then. From that aspect, it’s difficult to expect someone to come up and ask you for advice, but there are other things off the court. There are young players who are more open, curious, and flexible,” – Djokovic said.
Different tennis player profiles
The 38-year-old tennis player emphasizes that there are various profiles of tennis players. There are those who are open and will specifically ask for advice, while some try to reach him through his team.
However, the experienced tennis player is ready to help anyone, no matter how busy he is and how much it might spoil his plans and ideas.
Not everyone in the world of this sport has such an approach, mostly because every tennis player has something unique when it comes to training or other aspects of the game.
“It also comes down to character; some people are shy. It often happens that members of a player’s team will ask me something through members of my team, and then I approach and say: ‘It’s OK, we can talk’. I get a response like: ‘Yes, but I don’t want to bother you, etc.’ It’s good to have proper communication because that increases mutual respect."- he concluded.
