THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 27, 2026

Novak Djokovic

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Novak, happy to be back?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You said your children don't have access to phones at the moment. As a tennis player, and parent, how do you balance use of technology, especially with AI coming through and everything else?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Good to see everyone. Good to be back. What a nice way to open a press conference (smiling).

Yeah, I think it's a hot topic for all of us in the society of today, in the world of ever-evolving technology. Particularly as a parent of young children, you always think how you can protect them, how you can also satisfy some fundamental needs.

If all of their friends have it, obviously they're asking for it. It's a challenging situation for me and my wife. At the same time, we believe firmly that before a certain age, I think the exposure to screens, it's more harmful than beneficial. So we stick to that.

Obviously not easy, as I said. We live in a technological era. It's all around them. We try to control what we try to control in a sense, at least while they're still very young.

Afterwards, the time is coming anyway very soon where they're going to be exposed and they're going to have their own screens, et cetera. We try to at least give them some protections and control before this inevitable moment arrives.

Q. Have you bumped into Serena at all?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes.

Q. What was the conversation like? You guys talk about playing doubles together? Anything else? What do you people with 48 Grand Slam singles titles talk about?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Look, first and foremost, what she's doing is inspirational and it's epic. That's what I told her. I always admired her career, her journey, her story. Of course, Venus', as well.

For her to come back after years of being absent from the tour, two children later, and to give so much effort to, not just for her own satisfaction or coming back on the tour, but also to give all of us a pleasure of seeing her back on the court - in singles as well as doubles - is remarkable.

I told her that whatever happens, what she's doing is truly inspirational for me personally, I'm sure for millions around the world.

I see her in the gym more than I have, I think, seen her when she was at her prime. It tells me that she really wants this to work out the best way possible.

It's admirable, honestly, the effort she's putting in. Of course, all eyes are on her, her comeback. I just hope that she will enjoy because she really deserves. She created something historical, legendary in her career. She deserves every applause she's going to get.

Q. What impact is the heat having on the grass here? You've been a great mover on grass. Does it open the tournament to more people in terms of the way you move? Is it drier or harder than it usually is?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: As I understand, the weather is going to settle a little bit next week when the tournament starts.

But yes, this week has been one of the hottest weeks ever in my experience so far in 20-plus years in Wimbledon.

Yes, it does have an effect because it's a live surface, a live material. Any change in the temperature or weather conditions is affecting the way the grass responds to that.

Obviously when it's very hot, the grass softens, the soil softens. It does affect the bounce that is lower. It can get quicker in terms of the surface bounce. But the balls respond differently. The balls, when it's very hot and humid, they get bigger, fluffier. That slows the game down.

It's a little bit of an interesting situation there. It's quite different response from the balls and the surface itself.

In terms of how slippery it is, look, grass is always slippery. Yeah, I mean, I luckily so far playing one exhibition match and some practice sets so far in this week haven't slipped once or fell once on the court. I don't know if that's a good sign or not, or if something is coming up next week. Let's see (smiling).

You always have to kind of be, yeah, a little bit more careful, I would say, comparing to the other surfaces, the way you move.

I do slide. I do continue to slide also on grass. I do have to adjust my footing and my steps on the grass a bit more in order to, I guess, have a more effective movement. It's not like the other surfaces.

Yeah, let's see what happens. I think temperature's going to cool down. Hopefully will be a nice, pleasant weather for us to play on, and also crowd, public, to watch because it's not also comfortable for them sitting on 35 degrees.

Q. How concerned are you that people trying to watch the World Cup games on their phone is going to cause distractions?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think I had that experience before here in Wimbledon few times with European cups, World Cups in the past with particularly interesting matches. Then I played, scheduled last on Centre Court, England would be playing, that would be interesting for me to experience on the court.

It would be loud. You can sense there's a buzz going on. People are kind of simultaneously looking at your match and also following their national team. It's normal. It's the football fever right now in this four to six weeks.

We are also part of it. I like football. I follow everything that is going on. Obviously nicer when you're by the TV than when you're playing, not everyone is focused on your match. But that's okay. That's what it is.

Q. We understand you're not part of the Larry Scott thing. Do you have any views on it since it seems to be rumbling on and probably going on for a bit longer?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, I have no views on that, to be honest. I'm not part of it. Just I'll stay neutral on that.

Q. In terms of preparation, how did you manage these latest four weeks? In Paris you told us you were disappointed about the level of work you have. Is it different before Wimbledon?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes, I think it is different in terms of just the overall physical state. I think I'm better prepared here than I was for Roland Garros.

Obviously playing on grass, comparing to clay, you don't need to exert as much physical effort. So that's better for me.

I always loved playing on grass. I have a very good score here, history, in Wimbledon. That gives me, of course, a higher dose of confidence coming into the tournament.

Roland Garros was physically very draining, demanding. Three matches that I played, all of them went almost four hours. But I'm proud of the effort. I lost in the third round against a 20-years-younger opponent, fought until the end in the five sets almost, four and whatever hours that we played.

Yeah, of course maybe not the result I was looking for, but the effort was there. Anyway, I was planning to peak at Wimbledon after the injury of the shoulder that kind of kept me away from the tour for several months.

I knew not having any matches, official matches on the tour, going pretty much straight into Roland Garros, is going to be quite difficult. Maybe too big of a challenge for me at the moment. That's what happened.

But I knew that's going to give me a bit more time to get myself prepared for Wimbledon. So hopefully I'll have a good tournament here.

Q. Just on Venus and Serena again. Can you summarize particularly here at Wimbledon their kind of legacy, how they've changed the sport, in particular this tournament?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, what else I can add that I haven't said in the previous question?

We have seen also Will Smith's Oscar award, King Richard performance. People got to know a little bit more that maybe don't necessarily follow tennis, about the Williams sisters' story. We kind of from the tennis knew that from before.

It's truly inspiring, the way they were brought up, the way they grew up in a very challenging environment that was not necessarily very supportive of their tennis.

They've grown up to be very resilient people. The sisters stayed together, supported each other. Obviously Venus being a bit older made a breakthrough on the tour earlier than Serena.

I don't honestly know how they managed to play versus each other in the finals of Grand Slams or any other tournament.

I have two younger brothers that played tennis, professional but not at the highest level. There was one or two times that I could have played one of my brothers in singles. Luckily for both of us, that didn't happen.

I just don't know how you're able to play your sibling on the court. I don't know if I would be able to do that.

That's also another aspect to it, of their greatness, is how professional and competitive they were against each other, but loving and supporting of each other, as well.

Their singles and doubles careers, Olympic Games, they won gold, silver, doubles. They've won everything you can possibly win in this sport.

They transcend tennis as well. They went into different areas of life with business, fashion. Just the impact on the youth in America and worldwide has been tremendous.

So big fan of both of them.