Novak Djokovic and his father Srdjan were among the crowd that attended the Basketball Euroleague 2023 match between Crvena Zvezda and Lyon-Villeurbanne, a challenge that was played at the Stark Arena, in Belgrade.
The Serbian team beat the French team 94-73 to win the first match of the 2023 European league.
Nole, who has been back at No. 1 in the ATP ranking for a few weeks, supported his hometown team together with his father, highlighting once again how he is always at the forefront to support his country in every activity.
After playing in the 2023 Davis Cup following the 24th Slam title won at the US Open, Djokovic decided to skip the entire Asian swing, to return to the court directly at the Rolex Paris Masters, the last ATP Masters 1000 of the season.
Below the pics shared on X by Saša Ozmo (@ozmo_sasa)
Novak #Djokovic in Belgrade watching 🏀 Euroleague match between Crvena Zvezda and Asvel. pic.twitter.com/41miLnt6Mf
— Saša Ozmo (@ozmo_sasa) October 5, 2023
Craig Tiley: “We would like to dedicate the structure to Novak Djokovic, but…”
Novak Djokovic has never hidden that he has a particular fondness for the Australian Open.
In recent years, due to the issue related to the vaccine, the Serbian has encountered various difficulties in being able to participate. The veto imposed by the Australian government on those who wanted to enter the country without a vaccine prevented them from participating in the 2022 edition.
Fortunately, this year everything has returned to normal and Nole returned to Melbourne, obviously winning the title.
The Australian Open CEO Craig Tiley said he would be happy to recognize Djokovic’s achievements if a stadium or other facility were named in his honor, if only he could do it.
Australian Open rents the courts and stadiums and does not hold naming rights. As it stands, the downtown arenas are named after Australian tennis legends Rod Laver and Margaret Court.
Tiley explained: “Look, I mean, ultimately the naming of the arena is not my decision or tennis Australia’s, because a lot of people don’t understand that Wimbledon, the French and the US Open own the facilities where their events take place. We rent them, and the government owns our facilities, which we rent, and we’re fortunate that they invest in these facilities, but we don’t own them. But I would certainly be in favor of recognizing Novak in some way, for the his incredible successes here in Australia.”
His desire would be to have greater control over the structures, having the opportunity to organize more tennis events at Melbourne Park: “In September, December we move, we prepare everything for the event and by mid-February we leave and immediately after a year it is managed by a trust for concerts and everything else. So you don’t see any tennis courts in the stadium. We would like it to be our property because we think we could have more creativity in organizing more tennis events throughout the year.”