Novak Djokovic was recently in Sofia, Bulgaria, for an exhibition match where he had an encounter with comedian Milos Nedeljkov. In a skit, Nedeljkov pretended to be the Serb’s new Balkan tennis coach, leading to a coaching routine that involved a comical dance and more.
Djokovic most recently participated in the 2024 Davis Cup, securing victories against Greece’s Ioannis Xilas in singles and then teaming up with Hamad Medjedovic for a doubles win over the Greek duo of Aristotelis Thanos and Petros Tsitsipas. With these wins, he helped Serbia secure a spot in the tournament’s qualifying round which will be played in 2025.
After his Davis Cup appearance, the Serb took part in the Postbank Visa Tennis Gala exhibition match in Sofia, Bulgaria, on September 17. He faced off against Grigor Dimitrov but lost 6-4, 2-6, [10-6] to the Bulgarian.
Comedian Milos Nedeljkov attended the exhibition match and later shared a comedic sketch on social media featuring himself as Novak Djokovic’s coach. The sketch showed Nedeljkov assisting the 24-time Grand Sam champion with his training and then doing a dance routine.
Watch the video here :
Nedeljkov also shared a series of pictures of him with both Djokovic and Dimitrov at the exhibition match.
“First day in Bulgaria with 2 Balkan Legends! 🇧🇬 🇷🇸 (I was glad it was! @djokernole & @grigordimitrov),” Nedeljkov captioned his Instagram post.
Novak Djokovic: “Not chasing a place on the ATP list nor the Final Masters, I finished my career in other tournaments”
During a recent press conference, Novak Djokovic expressed that he is no longer fixated on chasing world rankings or securing his spot in the season-ending tournament, the ATP Finals.
The Serb stated that he believes he has already achieved everything he wanted to in those tournaments, and he is uncertain if he will participate in them in the future.
“I am not chasing a place on the ATP list, nor the Final Masters. Those are not my goals, honestly. As for me, I finished my career in other tournaments. I don’t know if I will play them in the future or this year,” he said.
Djokovic stated that his primary focus now is representing his country and competing in the Grand Slam tournaments.
“My priorities are playing for the national team and Grand Slams, everything else is less important. Now I need a physical, mental, and emotional rest in order to decide what and how to proceed, how much and where,” he added.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion will next compete at the 2024 Shanghai Masters, a tournament he is returning to after a five-year absence. His last appearance at the tournament was in 2019, where he suffered a defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals.