Novak Djokovic on what inspires him to keep playing tennis | 2026 Indian Wells

Novak, great to see you. It's been a little while. So much for us to catch up on. How are you doing? Great, great. I mean, it feels great to come on the set with you. It means that I won a match here. I always keep that in mind. You know, if I want to do well in tournament, I get to do more interviews and tennis channel sets. So especially with you, buddy, my guy, we listen. I just I get so inspired every time we get to spend some time together, soak up some of that energy of yours. But today in the match, let's talk about that first. You had to work. It was a tough first set. When did you feel you sunk your teeth into the match? Towards the end of the first, probably the beginning of the second right away, I kind of reset because I had an ugly start, very swirly, windy conditions. And that affects a lot, obviously, the way you play, the way you feel. Haven't had five weeks, any official match. So I knew that the first one might be a bit rusty for me. And that was the case, you know, obviously in a very challenging conditions like today, if you're not, you know, confident in your shots, if you get a little bit of tight, you know, you lose a break of serve very early, which I have in the first game, you know, I can play with you mentally and, you know, things can can go the wrong way, which they have. But luckily for me, only for a set. And then after that, I felt, you know, I had a great start of the second and never looked back. I found my groove on my rhythm. It was a close beginning of the third, but, you know, made a break at the right time. And I'm just glad, you know, just glad to go through the first match. It's always, as I said, a bit tricky, you know, coming into the Indian Wells where conditions are a bit different from most of the other events. And then also, if you haven't had too many matches and I haven't had any matches after Australian Open finals, obviously takes a little bit of time. When I saw you, I think it was too all in that third set. It was it was a big point. You let out a huge roar, a big come on. And to see you so passionate, especially in these earlier rounds, it, you know, it gets us it gets us fired up. Do you do you find yourself second oldest man to reach Indian Wells third round? That's supposed to be. I was wondering. It's supposed to be a compliment. That's a really nice description. Thank you, Tennis Channel. Maybe we should say second wisest man, second most experienced man. Give the guy something, you know. But to see you get so fired up early in these in these rounds like that, is that something you feel you have to work towards a little bit or you just love the competition that much? Well, I mean, I'm not going into the match, you know, hoping or wishing to play three sets, you know. I mean, I would love to get it over and done in straights. But obviously that's not always possible. And as I said, you know, on a given day, you play an opponent that has nothing to lose and he's playing well. And you started, you know, not great. And then things can can turn around very quickly and and then and go in the direction that is not desired. So but an important thing is that I managed to find a way to win, have a day off tomorrow, coming back on the court for both singles and doubles on Monday. That's something unusual for me. I don't play many, many doubles matches, but first time with my friend Tsitsipas, that's going to be a nice, nice experience, giving everyone an opportunity to see you many much better. Thank you, guys. Most distinguished, most distinguished man to reach this stage. Well, that's very sophisticated word. Well done, guys. No, I want to go back a couple of months to Australia because you gave us such a treat in that match with Yannick Sinner coming back two sets to one down, winning in five sets. What did you learn about yourself this year with the Australian Open experience? Well, I learned that I can I can, you know, beat these guys. Absolutely. Winning against Yannick or Carlos on a grand slam stage. Later stages didn't happen for a few years. So obviously I had plenty of time to get ready for Australia. It took more time to build my body and my mind, obviously, and go into the new season fresh and motivated and hopefully make some improvements and tweaks in my game, which I actually have. And and then it paid off. I mean, I had a great tournament, you know, five set against five sets against Yannick, who is a double defending champion. And in that night session, it was, yeah, one of the best feelings I've had in the last couple of years on the tennis court, to be honest, to to beat someone that is almost double less my age. And, you know, the two guys that are ruling the tennis right now in the last couple of years. So it felt great. It felt like, you know, it gave me confidence, but it also gave me a belief that that I can still do it. You know, I can still push the bar and needle, you know, for myself and the tennis in general. So, you know, I think I had a great first set and fourth set against Carlos in the finals. You know, obviously he was better in the end and deserved to win it. But I felt like I gave these guys a good run in the semis and finals. And yeah, that that's probably the biggest highlight. Well, you know how much love you got supporting you in this in this journey. It's beautiful to watch. Novak, you've inspired us in so many different ways with all the things you've done, the things you continue to do. But at this stage in your career, where do you find inspiration? I find inspiration in many different things. I mean, first of all, I really love tennis. I'm passionate about it, passionate about competing. I love the the thrill of getting out on the court and having, you know, your name being called and you hearing the score being called and you feel those nerves. And, you know, Billie Jean King said pressure, pressure is privilege. Right. And it really resonates. It is. It means that you're doing something that is important, that is worthy, that is valuable. And it's also a great way for me to. You know, to, I think, grow as a person, you know, on a deeper levels, because all the things that I suppress or that we all suppress, you know, come out in our work, particularly if you're an individual athlete. You have nowhere to hide. So, you know, there's a lot of different emotions that you have to face on the court. And and so it teaches me a lot of lessons and kind of gives me reminders of what I need to work on emotionally as well. And and there's obviously motivation. It comes from my family, you know, I still have great support of them and seeing my wife and my kids, particularly in my brother's parents still watching me and watching me live in Athens. The last tournament for me last season and winning there and having them all basically everyone that is closest in my life being there understands. It's just something that I honestly dreamed about before I became a father. You know, just having my kids grow old enough so they can understand what's going on on the court and what their dad is doing. So now I'm getting to the stage where I'm playing, you know, a decent rallies, decent speed rallies with my son. Soon enough, he's going to he's going to probably beat me. And, you know, LeBron, I think one of his greatest motivations was to play in the same team with his son, right? So he's living that dream. My son is 11. He might miss that one. I'm not sure. I'm not sure I can. I can survive till he's 18 on the tour. But but hey, you never know. You know, I'm still I'm still playing well, feeling well, not every day, but feeling well generally and still trying to be very meticulous, very professional with all my chores. Everything I do, there's there's a purpose behind it. And and look, you know, the fans today was a packed house for my first match. I you know, it's it's weekend. It's tennis paradise. People love tennis here. And that's also one of my greatest motivations, honestly, just feeling that energy, feeling that vibe, you know, the support, the love. It's it's one of the main reasons why I keep going. My brother, what can I say? You are a gift. Appreciate. Thank you, brother.