The best Serbian tennis player and world no.2 participated in the Kids’ Day program on Saturday, playing an entertaining doubles match with several other players from Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia.
Novak has been trying to draw attention of the world media after major flooding paralyzed the Balkan region.
The French Open also gave support to those in need, pledging a portion of proceeds from the sold-out crowd on Philippe Chatrier to the Novak Djokovic Foundation and its efforts to help Balkan families in the recovery process.
“We try to raise the awareness internationally as much as we can within the media,” Djokovic said. “It’s devastating. The floods have forced tens of thousands to flee homes, many people lost everything they had. It is important that people are starting to talk about it. We need help, and we need as much as we can get.”
Novak, Marin Cilic, Jelena Jankovic, Dusan Lajovic, Damir Dzumhur, Ivan Dodig, Jovana Jaksic, Danka Kovinic, Kristina Mladenovic and Goran Ivanisevic were entertaining the crowd to help raise funds for their struggling region. Even the cold drizzle in Paris couldn’t dampen the Balkan spirit. There was nothing but fun on the court. With world-renowned DJ Bob Sinclair, who transformed the court into a dance floor, and appearances from French stars Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Alize Cornet, Laurent Locoli…, there’s no doubt the sold-out event was a rousing success.
Novak donated his entire prize money check from last weekend’s Rome Masters victory to the relief effort.
Photos: Social media
