THE ALL ENGLAND CLUB, LONDON — They are everywhere in tennis, and they are all across the Wimbledon grass this week. The newbies taking their first steps; the talents-in-waiting seeking advice. Even senior players, who need some expert guidance, have stories. And they are all about the same player.
Daniil Medvedev of Russia recalls a hitting session in Monte Carlo years ago that turned into a private-jet ride to a Davis Cup tie.
Jakub Menšík, a 19-year-old Czech, and Hamad Medjedovic, a 21-year-old from Serbia, talk about the training blocks and ongoing mentorship. Aleks Kovacevic, a 26-year-old American whose parents are from Serbia and Bosnia, has a tale from the U.S. Open weight room.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic is the player at the center of all these stories. As he begins what may be his last, best chance for a 25th Grand Slam title, his latest mini-project is Aryna Sabalenka, the women’s world No. 1. The week before Wimbledon, they hit for a while, then had a roughly 30-minute talk.
Sabalenka said Saturday in her pre-tournament news conference that she listened closely as Djokovic kept going and going.
“If you give opportunity to Novak to talk, he’s not going to stop. I wish I could stay there for four hours and just keep chatting,” she said.
This is not an accident. Tennis, which likes to present itself as genteel, leans far more toward “The Hunger Games” than “Downton Abbey.” The kings and queens of the sport often carry themselves with a bit of aloofness and unapproachability. Often, it’s not unintentional, and it helps keep them on top. They want their current and future opponents to see them as something higher and larger than they are.
That can bring an edge, one more thing for the boys and girls who grew up with a poster of the tennis god on their wall to overcome when they end up on the other side of the net, in front of the real thing.
Roger Federer seemed to hobnob more with actual royalty, heads of state, and the titans of fashion, media and finance than fellow players. Rafael Nadal was one of the boys with fellow Spaniards, a bit less so with everyone else. Casper Ruud, who worshipped Nadal, joined his foursome for golf early in his career. Nadal barely spoke to him across 18 holes. He was too busy trying to win there, too.
Serena Williams did not embrace the role of mentor during her career, though she did go out of her way to show Caroline Wozniacki a good time after Rory McIlroy broke off their engagement with the wedding invitations already out.
Djokovic, though, has long embraced helping promising players, especially fellow Serbians and central Europeans, those from smaller countries. But he doesn’t particularly care what country a player is from — or even if his assistance might one day come back to bite him.
Menšík treasures the invitation he received when he was a junior, to travel to Belgrade to join Djokovic for a two-week training block. Earlier this year, Menšík beat Djokovic to win the Miami Open, as the player who had helped him become a champion sought his first win since the Paris Olympics and the 100th title of his career.
During last month’s French Open, Djokovic said helping younger players is something that he has long aspired to do.
“When I was younger, I was looking for that from the players that I was looking up to,” he said. “Some were more daring or caring to share, and some not.” He said he tells everyone that he’s available for them “if they need a call about anything, because I feel like that’s what I owe to the game.”
Holger Rune first met Djokovic in his teen years, when the ATP invited him to the Tour Finals to be a hitting partner. He ended up training with Djokovic regularly, in Monaco. During one session, Djokovic stopped a cross-court forehand drill and told Rune he didn’t need to hit the ball so hard. He told him to make fewer all-or-nothing shots. It’s a mistake that, in Djokovic’s view, young players in love with their power often make.
“He said he would suggest me never to go more than 70, 80 percent on every shot, to make sure it’s safe enough but still with good quality,” Rune said recently. “His game shows pretty good that he’s not risking much, but at the same time, he has tremendous quality on his shots.”
In 2022, Rune, then 19, beat Djokovic in the final of the Rolex Paris Masters. It remains his lone ATP 1,000 title, the level just below a Grand Slam.
Surely as a younger player becomes a rival and more of a threat, Djokovic might pull back a bit? He might withhold some of the secrets that have taken him to the pinnacle of his sport? And yet last fall, Alexander Zverev, a mainstay of the top five who has won five of his 14 matches against Djokovic, spent hours speaking with Djokovic about what he needs to do to win a so-far elusive Grand Slam title.
Novak Djokovic has grown into his role as a statesman of the game. (Dan Isitene / Getty Images)
Even though this sort of thing has been going on for years, players are still amazed when it actually happens.
“He’s very important for me as a player and also as a person,” said Jannik Sinner, the world No. 1, whose game more and more resembles a version of Djokovic’s, patched for the next generation of tennis. Sinner moved to Monaco, which used to be Djokovic’s primary home, right around his 20th birthday, long before he entered the sport’s upper echelon. He was a protégé of Riccardo Piatti, whose academy Djokovic attended when he was a teenager.
“I was lucky enough to practice with him when I was very young, in Monaco, we practiced a lot,” Sinner said. “Every time when I asked questions, he answered me, in a very honest way.”
Medvedev got that treatment back in 2017, when he was still outside the top 50. He was still uneasy chatting with Djokovic during breaks in their practice. At the end, Djokovic realized that Medvedev had been selected to represent Russia in an upcoming Davis Cup tie in Serbia. Djokovic offered him a ride on his plane. Medvedev declined at first, but then realized Djokovic was actually serious. It was far more convenient than a commercial flight and a long drive, so he went.
Kovacevic’s story goes back even further. He first met Djokovic at the 2005 U.S. Open in New York, when he was six. Djokovic was no one then, making his first journey through the tour and playing on a field court at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing, but their families kept in touch as Kovacevic developed. As a junior, Kovacevic warmed Djokovic up before another U.S. Open match.
And then, in 2023, Djokovic drew Kovacevic in the first round of the French Open. Kovacevic had told the ATP Tour website about his experience of losing in qualifying at the 2021 U.S. Open, after holding multiple match points. At the gym the next day, with Djokovic chasing a Calendar Slam, he told Kovacevic to join his fitness session. It would help him recover from a tough loss, and he might learn some things.
But the biggest recipient of Djokovic’s assistance may be Medjedovic, who won the ATP Tour Next Gen Finals in 2023. Djokovic helped fund his training and travel through junior tennis and even during his transition to the professional ranks. Medjedovic describes him as a much older big brother.
When Medjedovic was 15, Djokovic sat him down and told him that he had everything it takes to become a great player, but he needed to believe more in his game, in his shots, and himself.
“That’s something that I always go with on the court,” he said.
Medjedovic’s forehand is among the most powerful in the world. But he plays so many softer balls that it’s easy to also see the advice that Djokovic gave Rune.
Djokovic has also tried to encourage Medjedovic to be more disciplined off the court, in terms of what he puts into his body and balances training and competition with rest. Adopting that has been harder for Medjedovic, as it often is for younger players, but he knows that he is going to have to start following at least some of the advice before too long.
“Novak is somebody that lives tennis 24 hours a day, from his sleeping, waking up, then meditating, stretching, eating,” Medjedovic said during a recent interview.
“I wish I had it all, that I was like him, but obviously it’s not possible and some of the things that he’s doing for him are better, maybe for me, not. It’s all different.”
Perhaps, but those routines have helped Djokovic win Wimbledon seven times. He has made the finals the past two years, in the second half of his thirties. Menšík joked in his pre-tournament news conference that Djokovic’s best Wimbledon advice was telling him to eat the grass if he wins the title one day.
The next generation, at least those who have bothered to ask, is all ears. They soak it in like a sponge. And then they try to beat the guy who has told them his secrets. Djokovic wouldn’t have it any other way.
“What’s the value of the knowledge or experience that you have if you don’t transfer it to someone who is coming up?” Djokovic said in Paris. All these players know the answer well.
(Top photo: Leonardo Fernandez / Getty Images)
