Novak Djokovic reveals 'biggest desire' for the remainder of 2023

October 12, 2023

ATP Tennis Players, Novak Djokovic, Tennis News, Tennis Tournaments

Novak Djokovic reveals ‘biggest desire’ for the remainder of 2023

Novak Djokovic has revealed which of his three remaining tournaments in 2023 he has the ‘biggest desire’ to win, and the 36-year-old singling out one player from Serbia’s Davis Cup quarter-final opponents, Great Britain.

Djokovic has been out of action over the past month, with the Serb electing to miss the ATP’s return to China after a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Over the years, some of the best support I receive anywhere in the world is in China. Shanghai has always been one of my favorite tournaments in the season. I will be missing my #NoleFam in China. I hope that I can come back to China in the future and play in front of all of you…
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) September 17, 2023

The last time that Djokovic played was in the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage, with the 24-time major winner travelling straight from winning the US Open to help send his country to the knockout stages in Malaga.

And the world No.1 has revealed that the Davis Cup is his ‘biggest desire’ for the remainder of the season, “Although I have the highest expectations for all three tournaments, somehow the biggest desire from the end of the season is to win the Davis Cup. I hope that I will be there at my peak, like the other guys from the national team.”

Serbia will compete against Great Britain in the quarter-finals next month, and Djokovic has specifically spoken about the threat that British No.2 Dan Evans poses to them.

“They are a complete team, they have four top singles players, while one of them, Evans, is extremely good in doubles as well,” said Djokovic.

He continued, “I saw that he played continuously and that he was the choice of their coach in combination with [Neal] Skupski. They are very difficult and I hope that we will be able to win after the singles.

“It will be very difficult, tense, if Evans plays the other board, he is a very awkward player against everyone. However, I believe in our guys. And we also have a lot of choices, maybe not for the doubles, but for the singles, yes, and I hope that they will all be fit and healthy, so that we can think about who will play.”

Evans helped send Great Britain through to the quarter-finals in dramatic fashion, having won both of his singles matches and two deciding doubles rubbers.

And the Brit is actually one of the few ATP players to have a winning record against Djokovic, having beaten him in Monte Carlo back in 2021.

Inside the baseline…

Djokovic has always thrived off representing his country and would love to replicate Serbia’s 2010 Davis Cup success this year. Evans is probably the most in-form British player at the moment, however it is unclear as to whether he would play Djokovic in singles due to Cameron Norrie still being the highest ranked Brit.