Novak Djokovic sent a warning to Britain’s Davis Cup team as he said his “big goal” for the season was to help Serbia lift the trophy at the tournament dubbed the ‘World Cup of men’s tennis’. Britain has drawn Serbia in the quarter-final of the knockouts in Malaga and the world No 1 will be hungry to help his nation lift the trophy. Djokovic also responded after Daniil Medvedev joked that he wanted to see the Serb retire following the US Open final.
Djokovic swapped his tennis rackets for golf clubs on Wednesday as he contested the All-Star Match at the Ryder Cup, ending up as part of the winning squad Team Monty. It came during the world No 1’s brief hiatus from tennis, as he is currently taking a break for the next month after winning the US Open and helping Serbia to qualify for the Davis Cup Final 8.
The 36-year-old will finish his season with three events – the Paris Masters, the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup. And it’s the team tournament that is truly in his sights. It sparks bad news for Andy Murray, Cameron Norrie and co as Serbia has drawn Britain in the quarter-final.
“The Grand Slam season is over but we have another few months until the end of the season,” Djokovic said on Sky Sports after his outing at the Marco Simone Golf Club. “I’m going to be playing in Paris-Bercy, one of the tournaments of the Masters 1000 category for us. A really important one obviously on the ATP Tour, the biggest ones.”
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“And then the last 8 World Tour Finals in Italy and then to finish off with Davis Cup for Serbia, for my country.” Staking his claim on the crown, he added: “That’s the big goal for the end of the season. We’re in quarter-finals in the play-off so I’m hoping that we can get our hands on that trophy.”
Djokovic was appearing at the Ryder Cup just weeks after he made history by winning his 24th Major title at the US Open, making him the first player to do so in the Open Era. He defeated Medvedev 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 to hoist the trophy. After the match, the Russian jokingly said: “I want to ask Novak, what are you still doing here? When are you planning to slow down a little bit?”
The Serb was asked about Medvedev’s comments after helping Team Monty win the All-Star Match and laughed as he replied: “I have no answer to that.” But Djokovic made it clear that he was hoping to stick around for a few more years and keep fighting for Grand Slam titles.
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