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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2020

Novak Djokovic

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

JAMES BRACEY: How great it is to have the seven-time Australian Open champion, Novak Djokovic, here tonight for the draw show. Great to see you, Novak.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Thank you. Thanks for having me. Great to be here.

JAMES BRACEY: It's been a very busy week for you. We'll, I guess, dissect what's to come here at the Australian Open and obviously the time that you have loved here at Melbourne Park.

But last night, to kick off what is going to be an amazing fortnight with the Australian Open Rally for Relief, a cause close to the hearts of all the tennis players, including yourself, a special night to be a part of for you?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It was the most special charity event that I was ever part of on the tennis court, to be honest. It was amazing. I mean, the result of that is over 5 million Australian dollars donated for a great cause.

I want to congratulate everybody who organized the event. It was fantastic. I enjoyed so much. I had a lot of fun sharing the court with Rafa, Tsitsipas, Zverev, Thiem, Serena, Wozniacki, all the top stars.

It was all for a great cause, and we could have a lot of laughs on the court, which is not usually the case, you know, when you're competing obviously. Rafa has been my biggest rival in my life, but actually to get to share the same side of the court with him, which is not so common, it was quite different.

JAMES BRACEY: And to see that amount there tick over the $5 million mark, as you said, simply brilliant from all those people so generous at home to not only give their time but also their money, as well.

Now, it's the firefighters that we were particularly saluting at Rod Laver Arena last night. It was such a treat to have a few of them there.

When you were backstage before coming out on court, take a look at the reception that many of them received in front of 15,000 fans.

(Video shown.)

JAMES BRACEY: You have been a part of some remarkable atmospheres in Rod Laver Arena before, Novak, but that was something particularly special.

Could you hear it and feel it before you were even on the court?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Absolutely. They deserve it. They are heroes, and what they are doing is truly special and heartwarming to know that there are people that are volunteering and putting their life on the line, you know, to save other people's lives out there, animals' lives inhabited. It's truly amazing.

They've deserved every single applause that we just saw and heard last night. And actually one of them, the lady, I think...

JAMES BRACEY: Yeah, Deb.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Her name was Deb. She did amazing. I mean, she's a great player.

JAMES BRACEY: She loved playing with Rafa, didn't she?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Loved playing with Rafa, yeah. Made couple of points, and I think it was probably the experience she will remember.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I want to jump in a little bit for just a moment.

Speaking about Rafa, you mentioned that opportunity to play on the same side of the court and you mentioned fun, as well. How about the signal that he gave you, hey? What about that?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Exactly. What about the signal? (Laughter.)

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I don't think it went to air last night. Some fancy footwork with it. He's been wanting to do that for a while, I gather, particularly after the record on hard court and you beat him last week.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. Well, I think, you know, you played a lot of doubles, so actually that is a sign that you tend to give to your partner, unintentionally.

It just means that you're going to serve to the body of your opponent. But it does look awful.

(Laughter.)

TODD WOODBRIDGE: It does, indeed.

SAMANTHA SMITH: Novak, I want to take you back to last year and the final against Rafa, and I was thinking, you know, when you were coming on tonight, you have probably played about a thousand matches. A lot of people were saying that was a near-perfect performance.

Can you remember any other performance that came close to what we saw last year?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: That was probably the best performance I had in finals of Grand Slam in my career. I had some thrilling, exciting matches. Probably two most epic matches that I was a part of were finals against Rafa here in 2012 that almost went six hours, the record of the longest-ever finals in history, and then against Roger last year in Wimbledon, obviously another five-set thriller.

But in terms of performance and quality of tennis, last year's final against Rafa was probably the best one I had. Rafa was in great form. He hadn't dropped a set the entire tournament.

You know, the way I played was just amazing. I was very proud, and obviously I have been trying to remember that and kind of relive those memories.

SAMANTHA SMITH: I thought I'd remind you.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Thank you for reminding me.

You know, it's one of those days where everything just works perfectly. You're in the flow and you're playing your best.

SAMANTHA SMITH: Did you know during the match that it was that good? Could you feel it?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I could feel already, I mean, lots of confidence after quarters and semis, especially, you know, playing against Lucas Pouille who was in form. And I played tremendously well in semifinals, and I felt that confidence boost prior to finals. And I thought, well, regardless of the fact that Rafa is playing, you know, some of his best tennis on hard courts, I still feel that I have a really good chance the way I have been feeling on the court and playing in the last couple of matches of the tournament.

But you really never know until you actually start to play how is it going to play out, because, you know, there are nerves obviously playing against your biggest rival, finals of one of the most important tournaments in the history of sport. There is a lot at stake, and a lot of things can go astray in a split second, you know, once you start doubting yourself.

So I was really in a good state of mind. I was positive. It reflected on my game, as well.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: It was the start of a great year for yourself and Rafa, sharing the slams between the two of you. So much discussion surrounding yourself, Rafa, Roger, and how you have revolutionalized tennis coming through a generation together.

Do you also believe you have helped revolutionalize each others' games in the process, too?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Absolutely. I mean, we have helped each other a lot to evolve as players, and I think on and off the court, as well, to understand how we could get better, what are the things that we can improve so that when we face each other, we can be the best versions of ourselves so we can pull out the best quality of tennis that we can possibly have.

Because that's what it takes to win against each other, because we always kind of, you know, require the best tennis from our opponent. And between three of us, I think the intensity, the anticipation before the match just obliges us in a way to step it up and play our best, because otherwise we're gonna lose a match.

I think that kind of rivalry that has been really special between three of us has brought us to these tennis heights where we are at the moment. And I think we still look at each other's games, look at each other's careers, and we still kind of measure our own career comparing to the other guy.

I think that's the beauty of the rivalry, and I think we are contributing, I think, in a way to evolution of the sport.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: I think the problem with that for everybody else is that they don't feel like they are getting a go. So as we get ready to do the draw here tonight, last week you played brilliant, and congratulations on your win and Serbia's win in the ATP Cup.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Thank you.

TODD WOODBRIDGE: But you had a magnificent match with Medvedev. He played so well at the US Open. He seems to be one that's knocking on the door to potentially take one of these slams.

Just talk about potentially him as a danger here and who else you think might be in that space as we look at the draw.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, you mentioned one of them. Definitely Daniil is playing great tennis. Played a close five-setter against Nadal in US Open finals last year that you mentioned.

He was two sets down, and I think Rafa has maybe never lost when he was two sets up in finals of a Grand Slam. Maybe once or twice. So it was very impressive to see Medvedev coming back, going strong, going over five hours, competing.

Those are the signals in a kind of way, signs that you want to see in the champions' mentality of one player. So he's definitely in that small group of players that are getting closer and kind of narrowing the gap to the Grand Slam title.

Alongside him I would say is Dominic Thiem who has been around and knocking on the door, couple of Roland Garros finals against Rafa, also close matches.

Tsitsipas has won, you know, a big title in World Tour Finals few months ago. So you do have -- I think tennis is in good hands. We have a very good next generation of players, Zverev, of course, that has been around.

Well, we are hoping that this is not going to be the year where they're gonna win the Grand Slam (smiling). That's what we are working on. But let's see.

You know, I think that that's inevitable. It's going to happen. You know, when and if it happens, you know, it's going to be great for the sport.

JAMES BRACEY: The win for you and Serbia throughout the ATP Cup, which no doubt was a resounding success for tennis, and as a brand new concept, you loved the crowd in Brisbane?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes.

JAMES BRACEY: And in Sydney, it went to a whole new level. Did it feel like you were playing at home?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It did. I did not expect that. I mean, we knew that the Serbian community in Australia is pretty big. We knew that playing a team competition where you represent your country is going to attract even more people from the Serbian community because they're gonna feel, you know, even more passionate to support all of us to win our ties. And Brisbane was phenomenal, but Sydney was just a different level.

In the finals against Spain, the amount of support that we got and how loud they were and how, you know, committed they were actually from the first singles match all the way till post-midnight when we finished our doubles, it was quite remarkable.

JAMES BRACEY: Congratulations on the ATP Cup and your seven Australian Open titles, and all the best chasing an eighth.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Thank you very much.

JAMES BRACEY: Novak Djokovic joining us here at Margaret Court Arena tonight.

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