08. 02. 2012. ·
Photos: Mirko Jovanovic
A day after being named Sportsman of the Year for 2011, at the Laureus World Sports Awards, Nole arrived in Belgrade where he met editors and reporters of Belgrade media.
Our champion answered questions about his career and success, revealed some private life details, and then accepted ‘challenge’ and played a game of table tennis with everyone who wished to play. He also showed them golf hits on a new golf simulator.
Olympic gold medal and French Open title are Nole’s priorities this year.
“The season will be difficult, with many important matches,” Novak told reporters. “I will try to set up my form for Roland Garros, the Grand Slam I still don’t have, where I want to get the title and go all the way through, and then I’ll start thinking about Wimbledon and the Olympics. It’s going to be interesting to see how the grass will recover in three weeks. I had the privilege of being part of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and won a bronze medal for my country.”
Nole stressed that he is happy to be able to represent Serbia “as it is, in a most beautiful way,” after the “undeserved negative publicity it had in recent years.”
The world no.1 won’t take part in Davis Cup first round tie against Sweden in Nis.
“I believe in my teammates. I’ll be with them with all my heart, I’m sure we will beat Sweden. I won’t go to Nis, because I plan to do something I haven’t done in seven years – go skiing with friends on Kopaonik,” – Serbia’s top ski resort. “My mum is not happy about it, because it’s really cold, but I think she will let me go”.
“I enjoy every experience. I accepted some negative things in past as a school. It’s not about how many times you fall down, but how many times you get back up. I enjoy doing what I love, and I’m good at it. It is a lot of sacrifice, but that’s my way.”
Nole revealed what he does when he has time off from tennis.
“I try to relax and enjoy things that life offers. I spend time with friends, listen to music, read. I try to read books in different languages, to improve my English, Italian… When I have time, I play golf and other sports that I like. I’m reading Suzanne Collins book at the moment. When it comes to music, I listen to radio JAT when I’m in Serbia, they mostly play songs from the 80s.”
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