In a major interview he gave to Argentina's "La Nacion", the 24-time Grand Slam champion slam Novak Djokovic talks about Serbia, his difficult childhood, situations that have strengthened him mentally, but also the weaknesses that make him extremely vulnerable.
Due to professional obligations, Novak has lived abroad for a long time, but now he wants to compensate for the time spent away from his homeland. He decides to return with his family so that his children can experience what it means to live in your own country.
When asked if he feels a special energy when he is in Serbia, Nole answered:
"Belgrade is my home and this energy cannot be compared to any city I visit. In Serbia, we have a saying that goes: "Wherever you go, when you return home, you return to your roots, you return to your place."
The childhood days I spent here... bring back emotions and memories that I have carried with me for 30 years, and I haven't been to Serbia for 15 or 20.
I missed being with my people, speaking my language, seeing my parents who live here, my family and friends, I feel like I belong to this city...", Nole said.
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He also talks about the horrors of war experienced by the people of the former Yugoslavia and the most difficult moments of growing up.
"Serbia is a very old nation. First we need to clarify this, because we have a very rich history and traditions, but in recent history, in the last hundred years – The First World War, the Second World War and especially now, in the last 30 years - we suffered a lot, not only us, but also Croatia and Bosnia", says Jokera and adds:
"Yugoslavia was torn apart in the 90s, I was born in 1987 like Messi, so I don't remember exactly what our country was like, I was very young. I remember the latter part of the nineties and we were under sanctions and an embargo, which meant we couldn't export or import anything.
I remember standing in line for bread with my grandfather at 5:00 in the morning to feed our whole family. My uncle, my relatives, my brothers, my parents and I lived together in a small apartment because we had no other choice, and these are the things that have become an integral part of who I am today as a person.
I appreciate this positively because it strengthened my will to succeed, to do something with my life and I had incredible support from my parents who invested every euro they had. Growing up in that context was difficult, we went through hardships and I was a little boy who chose to play a sport that is for the rich, an expensive sport for our situation. Serbia is not a rich country, but we are a country of successful athletes and rich traditions. And yet - for several years we were the best in the world: Ana Ivanovich, Nenad Zimonich and me. We were all No. 1 at some point," Novak said.
Djokovic admitted that children make him particularly vulnerable.
"What makes me vulnerable? More than anyone can imagine - the children. My kids, of course, but others too. I'm always emotional with them, but when I became a father... When I see children suffering it breaks my heart, like I get depressed, they are the purest creatures on the planet and they deserve to have a future, when I see the war and all that happening...
I lived through the war, my city was bombed day and night, I saw dead people. Now that there are wars again in other countries of the world, I don't understand... I would like to know why it happens, but these questions are for the politicians.
This makes me sad because we are not leaving a better world for children, which means we are not doing good things. We want to create a better society for them, yes they have the best possible education and therefore injustice makes me vulnerable, especially towards children and towards nature. I love nature and animals and such things kill me", the Serb does not hide his emotions.