Djokovic recalled his childhood in the middle of the war: “I stood in line every morning to get some milk and bread”

Novak Djokovic He is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. For many, the best. Holder of 22 Grand Slam titles, the last one was won on Sunday Australia be with Rafael Nadal As the best winners of that category and current number one in the world, a position in which he has accumulated 374 weeks, more than any other player, the Serbian has been in the Olympus of the racket world for many seasons. But he does not forget his origins and the adversities experienced during his childhood, marked by the wars in the former Yugoslavia, which he recalled on Sunday, after the victory against Stephen Tsitsipas in the final in Melbourne.

“I come from Serbia in the 1990s, where we experienced two wars and an embargo for six years. At that time, I think that for four years no Serbian athlete was allowed to leave the country to participate in international competitions,” he said . . Freight in an interview for sony sports network with his former colleague and now TV host, Somdev Devvarman.

“I grew up in that context. I stood in line every morning, at 5 in the morning, to receive some milk and bread, together with hundreds of people and my grandfather, to put the bread on the table and that five or six members of the family could eat that day,” he said.

And he closed: “I know how it feels to be in that situation and I am grateful for all that I have, all that I have received from life and from God. And I am aware that there are hundreds of people in the world much less fortunate than I. . That’s why through my foundation, my tennis center in Serbia, I try to help in any way I can.. I know it’s not enough, I could do more, but I do the best I can.”

It’s not the first time the Serbian has talked about his childhood. during its passage Wimbledon in 2021, when he conquered his 20th “big one”, he assured: “Failure was not an option for me or anyone in my family. We had to find a way to survive in those moments. It was difficult. Those things they harden your personality, make you stronger and hungry for success in what you do”.

“We basically lived in the basement of my grandfather’s house, together with my parents, uncles and brothers. We woke up every night at 2 or 3 in the morning for two and a half months because of the attacks,” he recounted at another time, recalling what he experienced during the NATO bombing of Belgrade between March and June 1999. “In a In a way, those experiences made me a champion.”

Bogdan Obradovichhis first coach, recalled a few years ago: “We were in a terrible situation during the bombing. You heard the noise, you saw it on the news, people were killed and everything was destroyed. I was with Novak a lot in that time. We went around Belgrade looking for camps and trained together. At that time, people already knew him, he was popular, so they helped him a lot. We trained in many different clubs. There was a lot improvisation, but that’s how we did it”.

He added: ‘In the first workout we had, I was in shock. He was fully prepped. He was warmed up, had his own water bottle, a banana, a towel, everything. I’ve never seen that in a guy so young. He was focused but he was having a lot of fun at the time. He was laughing a lot.”

Already in those years, the little one Freight I must have wanted to be the best. At the age of seven, in an interview on his country’s television, he confidently admonished: “Tennis is a must for me. My goal is to become number 1”.

That difficult period of his life became the engine that fuels his ambition to win and the reason for his iron mentality, his dedication and his fighting spirit. And despite his obstacles, Djokovic found a way to hone that natural talent that made him different from other guys. And he became a great champion. A living tennis legend. One of the best players in history.