QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

February 17, 2025

Novak Djokovic

Press Conference

DJOKOVIC-VERDASCO/Bublik-Khachanov

6-1, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Novak, congratulations on the win. How excited are you to be back here in Doha?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's great to be back to Doha. I haven't played here since 2019. I always enjoyed myself here. The tournament was played in the first week of the season, prior to Australia, so it was actually a great week for all of us preparing for Australian Open, and flying to Australia through Doha.

Playing always a very strong tournament for 250 event. I'm so happy that, deservedly, they got the 500 category. Hopefully, they're going to move into 1000 category as well very soon, because they deserve it.

This tournament has a 30-year tradition, and there's a nice culture of tennis in this town, in this country. So, yeah, it seems like, if you see the field, that the tournament is more of a 1000 category rather than 500, but, you know, that's what I guess attracts more interest.

I'm hoping I can start my singles campaign well. I started my doubles very well today with Fernando, and it's another reason to feel good in this tournament, you know, being next to Fernando in his last tournament where he's going to retire after this, so I'm honored to be the partner on the doubles court with him.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you explain to us what you did since the Australian Open, how do you recover and train?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes, I obviously focused mostly on my recovery of the muscle tear that I had. I recovered very well, then I started to train. So I've been training tennis, I've been training for the last, you know, 10 days or so. I did quite a bit of fitness, and spent time with my family in my country, and here I am.

Q. Welcome back to Doha. Great to see you here. I wanted to ask you, what is your opinion on the ban given to Jannik Sinner, and also whether you think it's fair on other players on the tour.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: What do I think of it?

Q. Whether you think it's fair on other players on the tour.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, of course I've seen the news, and particularly the two cases of Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner have attracted a lot of attention, and it's not a good image for our sport, that's for sure.

There's a consensus or, I would say, a majority of the players that I've talked to in the locker room, not just in the last few days, but also last few months, that are not happy with the way this whole process has been handled. A majority of the players doesn't feel that it's fair. A majority of the players feel like there is favoritism happening.

It seems like, it appears that you can almost affect the outcome if you are a top player, if you have access to the top lawyers and whatnot.

Swiatek and Sinner are innocent, and it's proven, unless it's proven otherwise, so right now we know they're innocent. Sinner's got suspension for three months because of the mistakes and the negligence of his team members that are working on the tour, so that's also something that I personally and a lot of players find a bit strange. Also the fact that there is so much inconsistencies between the cases.

So, we have seen on the social media Simona Halep and Tara Moore and some other players that are maybe less known that have been struggling to resolve their cases for years, or have gotten the ban for years.

I think, you know, right now it's a ripe time for us to really address the system, because the system and the structure obviously doesn't work of anti-doping, it's obvious. I hope that in the next period of the near future that the governing bodies are going to come together, of our tours and the tennis ecosystem, and try to find a more effective way to deal with these processes.

So, yeah, I mean, it's inconsistent, and, yeah, it appears to be very unfair, and that's all I have to say about it. I mean, we will see what happens in the next period, with whether this whole case is going to attract more attention and shine the light on the other cases of the lower-ranked players. And we have to bear in mind that Sinner and Swiatek at the time were No. 1s in the world when we had those announcements happening.

Yeah, it's no good for our sport in general, and I just hope somebody will, us as a collective, will come up with a better strategy for the future.

Q. After doing everything possible in tennis, what does motivate you to continue playing the way you are still playing?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, several different things. Obviously I love the drive of the competition and trying to reach more history of the sport, you know, that I really love, that has given me so much. So, I want to win, I like the feeling of competing on the court.

Then I also feel like the tennis court for me, particularly during the matches, is probably the best platform to evolve as a human being because I experience a crazy amount and intensity of different emotions on the court, you know, from the thrill and joy to the frustration and anger. It's very interesting (laughing) to kind of experience all of those emotions, you know.

And you would think that maybe with experience you wouldn't react as drastically to certain moments or matches that you experience, but it's not the case. I feel the cramps in my stomach before the every match. I'm stressed, I'm nervous, I'm excited. So, it's a good sign, because after all of these years of competing on the tour and everything I achieved, I still feel that, I still feel the jitters. So, it's a good sign because I still care about doing this, and I, well, I feel and I hope that my active career that keeps going is also positively affecting the overall tennis ecosystem. I like to believe that. And hopefully inspiring, you know, younger generations to come and watch tennis, grab a tennis racquet, participate in our sport in any shape or form.

So, yeah, it's obviously a lot to represent my country, and a lot to come back, like in Doha, places where I've been treated really wonderfully throughout the course of my career, where I felt really nice and had a lot of support. So, just the feeling of entering the court and having the stadium, you know, supporting you is wonderful, it's unlike anything else.

Q. You haven't played, just ahead of tomorrow's match, you haven't played Matteo since 2021, I don't think, and you've never lost to him, but he has pushed you in matches, so I just wondered what sort of challenge you're expecting from him tomorrow?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, we haven't faced each other in a few years. Matteo has been playing really well I think lately, in the last period. We know that he struggled with injuries, but, you know, before he got injured and was absent from the tour he was one of the top players. He was regularly playing the final stages of Grand Slams. We played finals of Wimbledon against each other in 2021.

So, yeah, very powerful player, big game, big serve, forehand, just great hands. He brings a lot of strength and a lot of power in his shots. I know his game well, it's not an ideal draw for me (laughing), not in the first round. But, you know, it's also, in a sense, good for me to be really locked in from the first point of the first match, and not take any chances against anyone because, you know, I guess the tournament draw that I referred to at the beginning is super strong, so this can happen. I look forward to it. I think it's going to be a very good match for us and for the crowd.

Q. Welcome back to Doha. There was popular excitement among your fans here when you announced last week that you were almost fully recovered. Having multiple training sessions, as well as the match earlier today, how are you feeling, and is it fair to say that almost a hundred percent is now a hundred percent, and will fans be treated to that?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: You have to repeat the last part of your question.

Q. How are you feeling after multiple training sessions, and the match earlier today, and is that almost a hundred percent a hundred percent now?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: What do you mean a hundred percent?

Q. Recovery from your injury.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Oh, recovery, okay. Well, yeah, I mean, I haven't felt any pain, so I've been feeling great training the last 10 days, and last three days here in Doha. Today's doubles match, obviously it's different from singles, but still, you know, it's still a match, and you do have very dynamic movements that you have to do on the court, where you kind of test your body and how it feels. It felt great, so I have no concern.

Q. If I'm not wrong, you said you think that Jannik is innocent at the moment.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don't think, it's proven.

Q. But you said maybe at the moment, so you think that there should be more...

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, I didn't say at the moment, I said he's innocent.

Q. The question is, as a player, do you think that the rules of the anti-doping should protect more the privacy of a player or the transparency?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, we have to choose. The inconsistency is something that frustrates all the players. It's like, if you are going to treat every case individually or independently, which is what's happening, then there's no consistency, then there is no transparency, and some cases are transparent, some are not.

We know that, you know, there's a kind of a vague rule that I read that, you know, within a reasonable time you have to provide information where you got contaminated substance. He provided it in, as I understand, a six-hour window. But it doesn't say in the rules it's a six-hour window, it's a reasonable time. So what's the reasonable time?

Obviously, you know, sometimes in one case you can have a large contamination, in some cases you have a smaller one, like in his case. But the problem is that, you know, right now, there is a lack of trust generally from the tennis players, both male and female, towards WADA and ITIA, and the whole process.

So, we're either going to agree that all the cases will be transparent from the beginning, or all will be kept private until their result. I have no opinion of that right now, I think it's important to open the discussion, and then let's see what's best for the sport.