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It's true wisdom

to know how to let go,

to know how to liberate yourself and feel free,

because there's no stronger feeling in life than freedom.

Novak is incredibly vulnerable.

And soft and gentle.

But he's also angry. There is the anger in him, too.

I guess the anger is these unexpressed emotions

that he has had to throw under the carpet.

He's this playful kid that just wants to do what he loves

and he's really good at, but I don't think

there was ever a chance for most of the kids

of that generation to play too much.

Basically, for him, tennis is a safe nest.

That's the place where he finds love.

I cannot say I feel content with what I have

and who I am.

I am always looking to be more,

better, faster, stronger.

Oftentimes I feel that I am imprisoning myself.

In order for you to thrive

and to be at the maximum of your abilities,

you have to literally transform

every part of your life...

outside of the tennis court

to be in service to the tennis court.

And that has consequences.

I don't feel like he's been appreciated

nearly as much as he's worthy of

for what he's brought to the game of tennis.

Nobody can touch what he's accomplished.

I mean, it is as clear as it gets.

He's the best of all time.

He's won more Masters than anybody,

won more Slams than anybody.

He's been ranked number one longer than anybody.

By every measure, he did what was asked of him.

But the body's talking.

Time is talking.

♪ Everyone ♪

♪ Everyone around here ♪ ♪

I have no date in my mind,

to be honest, the expiry date of my career.

I know a lot of people are speculating that,

a lot of people are retiring me already for many years.

I said why would you want to retire me...

when I'm still playing and I'm still competing

at the highest level?

I'm still top five, top 10 in the world.

Why would I talk about retirement...

when I keep proving to myself that I can still win?

Olympic gold was the one thing that I did not have.

To win gold was the ultimate.

I just had a clear goal.

The fans in place

for what should be a spectacular final

coming up in the men's singles gold medal decider.

It will be Novak Djokovic who is facing Carlos Alcaraz.

Novak with those 24 Grand Slam titles.

This was his fifth Olympics. Twenty years he's been trying

to win Olympic gold for Serbia.

Twenty years.

You have only one chance every four years,

and when you lose that match...

it's very difficult mentally to accept that.

"I'm gonna need four more years to have another chance."

Carlos Alcaraz has talent

spilling out his sides.

He's only 21 years old, he's already won four majors.

Going into the Olympics,

Novak hadn't won a tournament all year.

Is this the inflection point?

Obviously, Alcaraz is-- is favorite.

But Novak is Novak when the moment matters.

Novak Djokovic!

You could feel, like, he was not going there

for the silver medal.

Give it up, give it up!

- Come on! - And get up!

And get up!

It's really tiring living that stress

and pressure of having to always be the best.

And I kept thinking, it would be great

if he won the Olympic gold. Like, that's it.

"I have nothing else to prove to anyone or to myself."

And for Novak Djokovic,

two sets to love.

Novak Djokovic gets gold for Serbia!

I cried because I was so happy.

That was such a relief.

And I remember his coach shouting,

"Game over!

He has done it all. He's done it all!"

And I'm looking at him like, "Oh my God,

we shall see what's next."

He's like, "No, no, he's thinking, he's contem--"

I'm like, "He does that a lot

"because he likes to play that game,

but definitely no out for him."

How are you feeling?

It's catching up to me slowly.

Too many things are happening,

and so I can't come to my senses.

I can't, in some way, see the big picture in peace.

I didn't know, I never won Olympics, so it was--

for me, it was the highlight of my career, right?

Considering all the losses at previous Olympic Games

and how I felt, and then the roller coaster of emotions

that I've been through.

And the celebration

for like seven to ten days after that.

Be careful, be careful, be careful.

Drive, drive, drive.

Olympics were so draining for me,

as much as they were rewarding

and beautiful to experience that,

and win gold, and have my family,

and then go back to Serbia and celebrate, and all that.

This is the greatest feeling

a Serbian athlete can have.

Thank you again. Long live Serbia. Let's go!

When you're at the top, when you're dominating,

when you're feeling like you're the best,

regardless of your age, you wanna keep going.

Novak is determined.

I think this is his best chance to win another major.

Novak Djokovic gonna have to do it

the hard way in Melbourne to win his 25th Grand Slam.

Number 25 is sitting there

and he's going for it.

There are only three ways to retire in sports.

The game retires you,

and these guys who couldn't hold your jockstrap

are now beating you.

Your body retires you. You wake up one day,

and your body says, "We can't do this anymore."

Or you go out on top.

Most players need door number one.

"Because if none of you chumps can beat me...

why would I quit?"

There's no way on Earth that Novak Djokovic

is passing the torch to anybody.

You gotta take it.

Everybody's asking him, "When you're gonna retire,"

and all of that.

He definitely has mixed feelings about his retirement.

This is the biggest decision of his life.

When I started, I was four, five.

Grew up on the mountains and I skied a lot when I was a kid.

But tennis was...

...just the dominant sport inside of my heart.

My dad was a professional skier.

He was instructor when he stopped skiing,

and as instructor, he met my mom on the ski slope.

And he approached her,

and that's where the-- the love started,

and they decided to live in that mountain.

They opened a restaurant.

That in summer, they were building a tennis court

just next to the restaurant.

Actually, the first time they start

building those courts,

I was here because of the family's restaurant,

and I was helping the workers,

'cause I was-- you know, I-- I never heard for tennis.

Nobody has ever really played tennis in my family before.

And they told me that they were building a tennis court,

so I asked, what is that?

And they told me, "Well, it's a sport.

It's nice, it's played with a racket."

I asked my father, he knew about it.

So then, I started watching it on TV,

and I helped the workers.

I brought them some free drinks from the restaurant.

In return, they-- they allowed me

to help them out.

We like sports,

we always watch sports on TV.

So, usually Sports Channel, and he was watching Wimbledon.

Game, set, match, Agassi!

He said, "I would like to try.

I would like one racket."

So, Father bought him one small racket.

And he start to play outside,

you know, in front of our restaurant.

And then, when he said, "I want to play,"

we put him in this camp.

He was playing some match during the camp.

I get out and watch him.

And he was so crying when he lost.

I said, "Never mind.

It's just one match." "No, I don't want."

He didn't want to lose.

Out!

Jelena Gencic, she's my "tennis mom,"

as I like to call her.

Her influence on me was very big.

She was one of the early coaches of Monica Seles.

I saw one little boy

just behind the fence, you know,

and watching, watching, watching all morning.

And I asked him, "Do you know what we are doing here?"

"Yes, I know. You play tennis."

"Oh, what's your name?"

"Novak Djokovic."

Bravo!

Jelena, already after

10 to 15 days said that

in her life she hasn't seen a greater talent than Novak.

She even compared him

to Monica Seles.

What I like the most about tennis are the forehand,

the backhand, and the volley shots.

That's how I defeat opponents.

Then, you start to believe.

We decided to give him support.

The concept of longevity was introduced by her

when I was nine, ten years old.

Take care of your body,

take care of yourself, your mind.

We were learning about importance

of listening to classical music,

importance of knowing how to relax,

knowing how to breathe.

She said I should approach tennis in such a way

that I don't want to have only one shot at Wimbledon...

but multiple shots at Wimbledon.

Is tennis a game or a responsibility to you?

Well, tennis is a responsibility to me.

What is your goal in tennis?

My goal in tennis is to become a champion.

She took my dad on the side and she told him,

"Your son is gonna be number one in the world in the future."

So, can you imagine my dad out of nowhere...

listening to that.

And he, in a way, took it so seriously, my dad,

that he said, "Okay, I'm gonna take care,

"I'm gonna do everything I can to-- to allow him,

give him conditions so he can flourish."

What happened to us 1999,

entire nation was...

Wow.

Back then,

whole world turn against us.

It was a sound

Yugoslavs had not heard for real

since the Second World War,

and with it a realization that after months of threats,

NATO was about to strike.

Novak grew up in an environment

where when he was born, Yugoslavia was as it was.

By 1991, when he was, you know, four years old,

things had basically exploded.

And the war and the breakup

just changed everything.

NATO reacted and bombed Serbia, bombed Belgrade,

because Kosovo, they viewed as an incursion

and what Serbians viewed as a protection

of Serbian property.

For 78 days going against the civilians,

shooting at hospitals,

at bridges, civil infrastructure...

and saying that they are like military targets.

At the beginning, it was a horror story.

You cannot imagine as a little kid

that something like that can happen.

During the evenings, you just hide

in your little home that we lived in.

In a corner all together just praying that nothing happens.

One of those first nights of the bombing,

our building did not have a shelter.

So, we had to go to another building.

We were running towards that other building.

I-It's a horrifying sight because this is 2:00, 3:00 a.m.

It was dark.

You see people running around panicking.

They don't know where to go, trying to save their lives.

I tripped and I fell.

I saw my family running 40, 50 feet in front of me,

and I tried to scream.

"Help me, help me!"

They didn't hear me. They kept running.

I turned around and I looked at our building,

and I saw a plane dropping two bombs

into a nearby hospital.

Standing in the rain and darkness

on a bridge that may be bombed,

may be Belgrade's most genuine show of defiance.

What these people do is they stand here

with the target sign on themselves

or wear one of these target buttons,

which have become kind of the new national symbol of Serbia.

And the collective view here is that, "You can kill us,

but you cannot kill our spirit or our country."

There's a word in Serbian called inat.

When people doubt you,

when everyone is basically against you,

that's when you use that inat,

that force of stubbornness to prove everybody wrong.

And that inat is actually quite widespread

in the mentality of Serbian people.

People are saying "Okay, you can kill me,

but fuck you and your bombs."

And that is inat.

During those times, they were really challenging

for our country.

Economically, it was really hard to sustain

the financial demands on a family...

for probably one of the most expensive sports

that you could choose.

The whole country was struggling,

you know, economically.

I mean, people were literally looking for shelter

and trying to save their lives and not thinking

about tennis or anything like that.

It is an expensive sport.

As a family, we earned a decent income

but our earnings covered just half of the annual expenses

for his career and development.

And we covered that deficit

by borrowing from various lenders

who lent us money.

At that time, when you borrowed money,

most of the times you borrowed money from very wrong people,

unfortunately, that were criminals.

So, all of the reserves that we had,

he was giving to pay off the debt.

We could have had a normal life,

a decent life, buy an apartment or something,

but my dad was completely giving everything for Novak's career,

and it was quite tough for me as a younger brother

and-- and Djole as a younger brother, too.

Our family was suffering quite a bit

to have Novak on the right path.

My parents went all in.

And that was just a gamble.

I was 12, and Jelena, I remember,

was speaking with my parents and-- and telling them that,

"I can't help you more than I did."

It's time for me to move to a different place

with different coach in Germany,

in Niki Pilic Tennis Academy,

one of the best tennis academies in Europe.

My father,

he felt that I was mature enough

to take some of the weight and responsibilities

that he's been carrying.

So, he sat us all down

and he took out ten deutschmarks

at that time, which is equivalent to $10 now,

and he said, "This is all we got.

"I'm going to do everything possible

"that you live your dream.

"But there is one thing that I ask from you.

"You have to be 100% dedicated to this,

'cause if I see that you're not, it's done."

For me, it was the-- the worst day of my life,

I think, and the worst period while he was there,

because we couldn't go with him.

Suddenly, being thrust into a brand-new world

where you don't speak the language,

carrying a load that a boy should not be having to carry.

But I think he was able to handle it in a way

that most 12-year-olds

wouldn't have been able to handle it.

I had to become more serious, more stern,

more stable, more of a man

rather than a boy.

I wasn't the Novak that I was up to that point.

It's not easy

to leave the family.

13 years old.

I find out that Novak is exceptionally good,

exceptionally coachable.

He was talented.

And his goal is,

"I would like to be number one."

At that point,

everything was quite clear in my mind.

I knew where I was going,

I knew what I wanted to achieve.

And so, when I was 15, 16,

is when I really went pro, pro, so to say, fully dedicated.

But we were still needing to borrow money.

We are not simply

looking for money that people give us

and don't get anything in return.

Therefore, later, when Novak becomes a professional player

and when he starts getting good results

from prize money and all the sponsor contracts

they will earn what they invested in him

and a percentage on top of that.

I will play a few more

junior tournaments

which will mostly be Grand Slams,

but I am concentrating on the professional competitions.

Tennis, for years, has really thrived

in these binary worlds.

Laver-Rosewall.

Borg-McEnroe.

Sampras-Agassi.

The heirs to all of that are Federer and Nadal.

Federer and Nadal,

two players that have big contrast in styles.

Nadal has an incredible bull-like energy.

Tenacity, intensity.

Federer has elegance...

style, charisma.

It was a perfect kind of Hollywood script.

Most of the Grand Slam finals, they were facing each other.

They were number one and two for years.

Oh!

People in tennis like that world.

It's easy, it's simple.

It's Ali-Frazier.

And then, this guy comes along from Serbia.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Montenegro.

Could be a few butterflies in his tummy.

Novak Djokovic makes his entry onto Rod Laver Arena

at just 17 years of age. What a moment for him.

He was young.

I'm not really sure how serious he is about all of this.

He would do the imitations of other players.

You know, whether it was my brother.

It was wide!

It was Sharapova,

he did a great imitation of her.

Having fun doing impersonations,

you know, some people like that funny side of me

that was bringing the kind of good laughs

and good energy on the court.

Tennis is an incredibly hierarchical place.

It wasn't considered by certain people

that appropriate for someone who hadn't won so much

to be making fun of people who had.

I think tennis has adopted a certain style

ever since the beginning.

Elite, lavish, expensive.

That's just-- pfft.

You need to be elegant and sophisticated

to play the game, and you need to be the chosen one.

Novak was not the chosen one.

That's, uh...

I know this one.

That's you, I believe.

I know this one.

He's a jokester, but he also had

this incredible intensity about him.

When I came on the tour, I didn't care about Federer,

Nadal, or anyone else.

I just had a clear goal.

In my mind, I wanna be number one.

I want to win Wimbledon.

I wanna make history of this sport.

Everybody thinks, you know, Nadal.

For sure, he's the best on-- on this surface,

but he's not unbeatable, that's for sure.

He's a little brash.

I think I-- I could win today.

You know, I have to say that even though he's the best

and everybody thinks that he's unbeatable,

I-- I say he's not unbeatable, he's beatable.

Are you kidding me?

Djokovic, do you need some smelling salts?

Do you-- you wanna incite Rafa?

I think the next time he plays you,

he is gonna drop the hammer on you.

You will never forget saying that.

Here's a guy who sort of looks and acts and feels different.

But, outrageous talent.

Game and first set, Djokovic.

Novak quickly started establishing himself...

as one of the greatest defensive players

that the game has seen.

He could just put the wall down

and wait for you to implode.

- But he could transition

from defense to offense

probably better than anybody that's ever played.

It would just demoralize you.

He's arguably the best mover I've ever seen.

He's got incredible feet, he's got incredible stretch.

Incredible athletic ability.

I mean, I've never seen anything like it.

What's it like to play Novak?

Difficult.

Intense.

I felt always that I needed to be at my 100%

playing so well to have real chances.

Game, Djokovic.

A lot of times it will not be enough.

This is a masterclass

from Novak Djokovic.

Very seldom do you see Nadal so outmaneuvered.

He's done it!

Game, set, match, Djokovic.

The tennis was of the very highest order.

Perhaps, that's what he needed to do

to be able to beat Nadal.

He had some great matches.

But he was also a little bit fragile.

Well, he's slumped in the chair, Djokovic.

You know, like the MO on Novak was,

oh, if it's hot or if it's a long match,

he could wilt.

Well, I think what's happening, boys, here,

is that Novak wants to go

to the-- to the toilets to throw up.

He's taking a medical because he's feeling unwell,

so he needs to throw up.

Bathroom breaks, medical breaks.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Djokovic

is now receiving a medical timeout.

Frankly, Novak, first couple years,

was viewed as somebody who engaged in gamesmanship.

The other players didn't like his way of going about it.

When asked about his injuries today,

you know, mentioning the right ankle

as opposed to the left ankle the other day.

- Yeah, no, both of 'em? - Yeah, both of 'em.

Yeah, and a back?

- And the back. - And a hip.

And what-- when he said there are too many to count.

- And a cramp. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Do you get the sense right now that he is--

- Bird flu. - Yeah, a lot of things.

- Yeah. Yeah. - Beijing Hangover. Yeah.

I mean, he's got a pretty long list

- of ailments. - Anthrax.

SARS.

You know, you-- this crowd loves you.

You could turn 'em against you real fast, you know.

Well, I know they're already against me

because they think I'm faking everything, so, sorry.

His stamina wasn't the best.

So, he was very frustrated about it,

and he was trying to figure out how to resolve that.

Yeah!

In 2010, I lost

in the quarters of French Open.

I went to my coach's hotel room and I broke down in tears

and I said, I don't know if I have what it takes.

I dreamed and I planned always to be number one,

to win multiple Slams.

But I could not solve the riddle

of Federer, Nadal on a big stage.

I was just losing to these guys

most of the matches that we played.

A lot of things had to be fixed.

I mean, at that time he was quite young

and he was really mature for his age.

One of the first things he said,

"You work on my fitness,

"but I want to be absolutely okay

and fit when I'm 40 years old."

When I met him, I realized that I never met someone like him.

Never ever.

All different aspects of his health,

he was trying to fine-tune.

I made some corrections in the way I train,

the way I think, the way I eat,

sleep, recover, hydrate.

It all added up.

To me, the most fascinating part

was to see him continue to develop his game.

His serve got better. His net game got better.

His ability to accelerate the forehand got better.

Every obstacle that came his way, it got him stronger.

The kid who wilted became the guy with the iron will.

It was the Rafa and Roger show.

And then, you had this younger player from Serbia...

bothering them, starting to beat them,

starting to win the majors.

And that was surprising to many people.

Including myself.

I kind of broke into this rivalry

saying that I feel like there is room for another one.

You know, table for three, please.

He had one major in 2010.

So, it wasn't like he wasn't a good player.

For the second time,

Novak Djokovic ascends the mountain

and reaches the summit in Melbourne.

There's a new champion at Wimbledon!

-Novak Djokovic!

Since I was 10 years old,

I dreamed always to win Wimbledon.

Being able to share the joy,

it was the childhood dream.

I must see this trophy.

It's a long time we worked together.

I always wanted to do this.

- Her trophies, and-- - And your trophy.

But not any trophy.

The one. The one is here.

After that first Wimbledon championship...

he realized that he had another gear.

I know exactly the moment,

I know exactly the point.

It was in the semifinals of the US Open.

Roger Federer is serving for the match.

Novak, his strength

is mental strength.

He can really sustain most of the pressure...

at the most important moment.

Djokovic hit an outrageous cross-court return.

That was gorgeous!

The shot that we all talk about...

means nothing if Roger wins the next point.

It's 40-15.

5-3, 5th set, 40-15.

So, not only does Novak make the shot,

Roger doesn't win another game.

Here's Novak Djokovic,

the guy who's not tough enough to finish a match.

And then suddenly, he's at the top.

This changes everything.

In some ways you would think,

oh, that's amazing for the sport.

They have three headliners going into a tournament.

But for a number of different reasons,

uh, it's not quite accepted that way.

And Novak is kind of looked at

as a party crasher.

It's Djokovic who claims this classic!

6-4 in the fifth.

He's the one coming in to mess up

this perfect buddy flick that tennis has become.

But once he becomes a great player at their level,

once he's in 2015, 2016, 2017,

it's now a three-person race

to 30 majors, or whatever that number was gonna be.

Djokovic wins again!

Novak's goal is to win titles.

He's not just here, he's winning, he's winning fast.

Novak's goal is to pass Roger.

And he does.

But Roger set a new standard for the men.

How does a champion carry themselves?

You had to walk around and not have a speck of dust on you.

You weren't allowed to have a temper.

And Novak is a volcano.

Jeu, Nadal.

Unsportsmanlike conduct.

Warning, Mr. Djokovic.

Rafa is not somebody who breaks rackets.

He's composed, he sort of keeps his feelings inside.

But with Novak, you're gonna hear about it.

Whoa!

The racket has been melted.

It's so much tension,

so much emotions.

He wants to win.

And in the end,

he can yell and scream, I don't care.

Do whatever you want, just win the match.

What's it been like to be something of a bad guy

chasing after Roger and Rafa all these years?

I don't consider myself a bad guy,

but I mean, it's your opinion.

But, uh, I'm not chasing anybody.

I'm making my own path and my own journey,

and, you know, my own histories.

Tennis is still a place where I-- I feel

probably most comfortable, to be honest with you.

Tennis court was a sanctuary for me.

Because a lot of the things that we are feeling today

are very much connected to the traumas

that we experienced when we were kids.

Particularly those years where, you know,

there were problems everywhere.

Maturing very quickly.

I had to be kind of a parent at 13 years old.

I wasn't able anymore to express my feelings,

and I was a kid, I mean...

You know, I should be expressing everything,

you know, the joy, the fear, the frustration,

the anger, the... anything.

But I was...

And it's all become a bit too much

for Djokovic to handle.

He's furious.

The court was a place

where I could really get all of these things out.

But I do understand why, you know,

people didn't really like me,

uh, or maybe still don't like me.

When I coached him,

I really lifted up the hood of what makes him tick.

He wants to be kind.

He wants to care.

He wants to be open. He wants to receive.

But he can't win...

when he allows his heart to go there.

I was surprised how dark he needed to feel

to get the most out of himself.

♪ On the street, I'm a king-sized killer ♪

♪ I can make your...

For Novak to do his job,

he needed fear or anger,

because with love or appreciation,

-he lost his fangs.

♪ What are you looking at? ♪

♪ Who the hell do you think I am? ♪

That's definitely a factor that motivates me, yeah.

Oh-ho, look at him, look at him!

If the the crowd starts going against me,

I do use that to awaken that warrior inside of me.

It's called inat.

♪ Lover, nail yourself right to me ♪

♪ If you go...

It's embedded in our culture.

We have this stubbornness in spite of whatever people say.

So, in spite of crowds cheering against him,

he showed up with his best game

and still managed to win.

And to all those people that have chosen

to disrespect me,

have a goooood night.

♪ Like what are you looking at? ♪

♪ Well, who the hell do you think I am ♪

When you look at Novak Djokovic,

you can see when the fans are booing him,

when they're giving him that feeling

of being the villain,

even though he's the champion, which we don't do to champions.

We don't make champions villains very often.

His response is to kick everybody's ass.

♪ I stopped cracking up ♪

♪ Who the hell do you think I am? ♪

Novak plays best in a slight state of agitation.

So, there might be one fan

who says something that he doesn't like,

and he will make a point to win the match.

And instead of turning to his team and celebrating,

turn and point at the agitators in the stands.

♪ Who the hell do you think I am? ♪

♪ Nail yourself right to me ♪

♪ Like you've never seen a broken man ♪

♪ I won't be well ♪

♪ Who the hell do you think I am? ♪

♪ My arms wide open ♪

♪ Like you've never seen a broken man ♪

♪ I need you to drive the nail ♪

♪ What are you looking at? What are you looking at? ♪

♪ What are you looking at? ♪

♪ Hey, what are you looking at? ♪

♪ What are you looking at? What are you looking at? ♪

Twenty-four and counting.

Twenty-four, and he still wants more.

♪ Hey ♪

Tennis and the draw

for the Australian Open has been made...

Djokovic will have to beat

not only Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals,

but the number-two seed Alexander Zverev

in the semifinals, and then Jannik Sinner,

the one seed in the finals...

I think in any sport, while you're on the top,

when you manage to reach all your dreams,

how do you expand your ability

to master all of the obstacles

and challenges that you have to face every day.

First of all, we're doing

fun facts about the players.

In your case, I would like to say

Novak Djokovic speaks seven languages.

Novak Djokovic speaks seven languages.

Oh, sorry, you gotta walk with me.

All the demands, all the requirements,

all the people, the media, everything,

all the pressures and expectations.

The times I've been around him,

it's hard to get him anywhere on time,

because he always has time for anybody.

Would you like a photo?

Camera. Mm-hmm.

He cares, he listens, he processes.

He's interested.

All the things that go through your mind

on a daily basis,

how do you maintain the private

versus professional life balance?

Can you juggle for me, Novak?

You have kids, you have your wife,

you have siblings, you have your parents.

You're getting close to the age

where you need to lie about your age for different reasons.

They have expectations from you.

Blessings to the people of India.

They, of course, support you, love you,

but they're your closest people in your life,

so you have to be there, available to them, for them.

- Thank you, Mark. - Have a nice day.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

So, I'm kind of in between,

many times feeling torn apart emotionally.

He definitely has

mixed feelings about his retirement.

One side of him is excited

because there's so much to do in this world.

And then, there's like,

"Hey, but I love what I've achieved.

"I feel like I can push longer. Should I?

Because this might not be the best thing for my family."

Now, I'm enabling him

with having us around.

Like, I'm trying to balance it, but he will find his way out.

I don't want to be the one telling him how.

Mm-mm. That's not gonna be on me.

I don't know when the end will come for Novak,

but the one thing I can say is that the end,

when it does come, always comes fast.

I would hope for him that he doesn't wait too long,

not because he can't win anymore.

But because tennis takes your childhood.

But then, it gives you a chance to be done with your success

so that you can raise your children

without the preoccupations.

Drop shot, ah!

I think he's the happiest with our kids.

He just enjoys being a father,

and when he's in a father's role,

he's very playful.

Our son Stefan awakens the child in him on the court.

But also, he has a daughter.

The violin is for his daughter.

Why are people booing?

I have no idea.

Because they think that he is making fun of them,

but he's not.

When he loses,

he's questioning his whole identity.

He goes to this avoidant mode of like,

"Leave me alone, like, just close the door."

And Tara, when he wants to isolate, she doesn't let him.

He's so in love with her

that she has the access that nobody does.

And so, she turns him back to us.

That's Daddy's girl.

He's living the childhood that he never had through our kids.

We were under sanctions, bombings.

It scars you.

Consistency, and love, and care, and nurturing,

this is what our parents didn't have a chance to give to us.

Bravo.

You wanna be with your family.

That's where your belonging is.

But at the same time, the love for tennis

and the passion for him is so great and so big

that he cannot just, you know, not do it.

Ah!

Ah!

I consider myself a very dedicated father.

But considering that I am

at the highest level professional athlete...

there's always a consequence.

I do feel still some guilt

when I leave and when I see them cry.

That's the hardest part.

And we have, like, this little tradition that they always--

when I leave for a trip, they would take a glass of water

and when I walk out of the door

they would spill the water behind me.

It's a tradition in our country,

kind of as a good luck.

And so, we leave to some extent

with smiles on our faces,

but it's still-- still tough.

Awesome.

But now, my wife has been incredible with support.

She's trying to reduce that feeling of guilt

that I have by packing the bags

and traveling with kids to the tournaments with me.

Um, you know, we're trying to balance things out

because I don't also want my kids to live my life.

They need to live their life.

There's the point.

Ah!

Well done.

How do you feel?

I feel like I wanted to sleep a little bit more.

Actually, my kids, they haven't overcome the jet lag.

- Mm-hmm. - So, they stayed...

you know, up late and late, uh, wake up,

so I kind of followed that rhythm.

And...

...it's not working really well for today.

But it's good, it's okay.

I'm, uh, you know, I think, um,

if I look back in my 20-year Grand Slam career

and-- and see where I played my best tennis,

where I achieved my biggest Grand Slam results,

where I felt the best overall

on and off the court, uh, consistently, it was here.

But I had a-- a negative experience

a few years back.

And I-- I still feel a slight bitterness

that most of the people don't understand what happened.

The biggest story in tennis right now

surrounding world number one, Novak Djokovic.

His visa has been denied

and he is expected to be leaving Australia.

We do not know if he will be able to compete

in the Australian Open this year.

99% of people don't know what actually happened

and they don't have-- they think that I was...

deported from Australia because I was not vaccinated.

And that's not true.

In order to travel to Australia,

you either had to be vaccinated,

or if you were not vaccinated, you had to give evidence

that you had corona

in the previous six months.

I was not vaccinated,

but I had corona twice in the six months,

so I was eligible.

So, I've got the special exemption.

I told my wife, I want to post that

on my Instagram

before I leave.

And she said, "There's no reason to post that.

"You can just post that you're, you know,

"departing to Australia and you're excited to go there.

And that's it."

And I said...

So, we wrote the caption,

and then I added that last sentence.

So, we were debating the night before.

She said, "Don't add that last sentence."

I said, "I need to add this last sentence."

Another reason why you should listen to your wife's instinct.

He really insisted on saying out loud

that he wasn't vaccinated...

which I-- I just didn't agree with it.

I said, "Look, it's your choice.

"Please, like, don't elaborate on it

because there are other people thinking differently."

And from the moment he posted on Instagram,

pff, the hell opened.

Victoria, which is where Melbourne is,

had been subject to harder and longer lockdowns

than just about anywhere in the world.

It's a really long plane ride from where he was.

And in that time,

that post goes all across the world.

By the time his plane lands,

the whole country is basically in something of a tizzy.

I arrive, passport control.

I already see a couple of the officers

coming from the immigration zone looking at me.

I'm starting to feel something isn't right.

They ask me to come with them.

I don't get a stamp.

I go into that immigration zone

and I stay there from 11:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m.

From that moment, I'm getting the message, like,

"I'm at the airport, they're keeping me.

Not sure what's happening."

And it's like, I'm like, what-- what do you mean?

Like, "They're taking away my phone.

Sorry, I will--" you know, I'm like...

Novak Djokovic has been detained in Australia

ahead of a court hearing that will determine

whether the tennis star can stay in the country.

There was a perception, rightly or wrongly,

that he'd been given favorable treatment,

that he was being given an opportunity

to enter the country under conditions

where other people weren't given that chance.

He became a villain. He became a target.

He said it out loud.

If he did not say it out loud,

if he didn't brag about it--

probably that's how they took it.

Like, they wanted everybody to comply.

The moment you have one guy who is going against the current,

that's bad for everyone.

Now, what we have is a guy who has shown a continued--

and in this episode, a continued pattern

of evasions of the truth and contempt for the rules

that apply to everyone else.

He is a pampered, entitled, uh, sports star

who thinks he can game the system.

I was made villain

more than I have ever...

...been before in the tennis circles.

Now, I was a villain of the world.

If Djokovic really wants to be a winner,

I would say be a winner and send a safe message

to the population by getting vaccinated.

Why weren't you vaccinated?

Because I didn't feel like I needed it.

Why? Why should I get a vaccine?

You know, I'm healthy. I'm an athlete.

I had corona. I have protection.

I'm not a threat to anybody.

Why should I get vaccinated?

It's my freedom to choose,

which that fundamental right that you have

as a human being on this planet, freedom to choose,

was taken away from a lot of people on this planet.

The verdict is in.

Novak Djokovic is out at the Australian Open.

His case was heard at the federal court,

and then ultimately the federal government's decision

to cancel his visa was upheld by the federal court,

and he was deported on the eve of the tournament.

Australia was one of the countries

that had biggest lockdown.

They didn't want...

someone of a profile like myself

who is known in that country,

and everyone knowing that I'm not vaccinated

coming in their country, playing a tournament,

staying for a month or whatever, and then leaving,

where people from Australia

were not able to come back home,

were not allowed.

So, yeah, to some extent,

I do understand that they-- they felt that pressure.

But you know, it was not my fault.

So later on, I find out there is another two people--

one was a player, one was a coach--

that entered the country based on the same medical exemption.

So, it was-- it was all political.

It had nothing to do with medical,

it has nothing to do with anything.

It was just political.

I never said I'm against vaccine

or pro-vaccine.

Even the anti-vax movement...

claimed that I'm their hero, and like, that, you know--

I've never associated myself

with any anti-vax or pro-vax or anything.

I'm pro-freedom to choose...

what you are going to do with the integrity of your body.

And by the way,

I missed Slams and tournaments.

I didn't play in America for a couple of years

because I was not vaccinated. That's fine.

But in Australia, I was allowed.

So, I'm not the scientist.

I'm not the one who is-- who is setting the rules.

I'm-- I'm not the one who should debate that.

I stood up for what I believe in.

I-- I stand for protection of my integrity

and what I-- what I think is best for my body,

and that's it.

How did it feel

to return the next year?

Strange at the beginning.

But there was that extra significance.

I needed to win this Australian Open.

Game, Djokovic.

I was able to come back

after what happened 12 months before

and use that as a fuel to win.

Game, set, match, Djokovic.

He's a perfect 10.

That's why in the end I...

...in my mother's and my brother's arms.

He is the best player on the planet again.

He is not just the heir to greatness.

He is greatness.

Novak, whoo!

Djokovic winning the Australian Open ten times,

absolutely outrageous accomplishment.

Now, he's going for his 25th Grand Slam,

trying to win it again.

There are a lot of question marks

over whether the passion and the fury

that's fueled him would be there in 2025,

because at times,

it hadn't been there for him in 2024.

He can't even finish the French Open

because he tore his meniscus.

He goes from the French Open where he got hurt

to grass at Wimbledon,

where he'd only been out of surgery a couple weeks,

to red clay for the Olympics,

to hard courts to finish off the Grand Slam calendar.

Do you know what that does to your body?

He shows up at the US Open, man.

He-- he had nothing left.

He certainly didn't finish the season

with the same kind of vigor that we're used to seeing with him,

and there were a lot of question marks.

You're 36 years old now.

Does it feel like you're finally starting to play

at your own age after such an insane period?

Is your hope, intention

to be back here next year?

Do you have a plan on--

like a retirement plan?

Do you plan on going out...

I could see his frustration

in having to answer questions about retirement.

But at the same time, I can also see that being part of the fuel

that he might access to continue.

He needs to do what either in his mind

or other people's mind is not achievable.

Welcome to the big time.

Welcome to the Australian Open,

and welcome to the greatest player of his generation.

Novak Djokovic to serve.

Game, Djokovic.

This is what they came to see!

Game, set, and match, Djokovic.

Signature shot to finish it off.

A showstopping rally

from the man who is so difficult to beat here.

He is through to the quarterfinals

here in Oz for a 15th time.

I delivered some good shots, good tennis.

Those are mental bonus points,

'cause I know that my next opponent, Alcaraz,

for example, was watching, for sure, my match tonight

and was trying to analyze and see,

you know, what happens and where he's gonna see...

uh, some maybe loopholes and weaknesses

that he can attack and-- and expose in a few days' time.

Djokovic is gonna need

every last ounce of energy,

intensity, incredible play,

because Carlos Alcaraz is coming.

It's the only major he hasn't won.

So, you're talk about a matchup with Novak...

Novak, Roger,

and Rafa played this game

all so differently

and all so great in their own way.

And now, you see players, specifically Alcaraz,

that plays like all three of them whenever he wants.

The game does get better.

It is my favorite period of an athlete.

It is the lion in winter period.

You know that the end is near.

Nole! Nole! Nole!

Now, you're going to use all the reserves,

all the experience, all the history,

all the heart, all the drive.

Because at some point, you can't do this anymore.

But who's standing in front of you?

Alcaraz.

And he's standing in front of you in Melbourne

on your court where you've won ten times.

And he's also hungry because you just beat him

in Paris for a gold medal.

There hasn't been as much buzz for a quarterfinal match

in a major as there was for this one.

Anticipation of this match.

I mean, the second the draw was made,

people were like, "Oh, my God." Okay.

This is the quarter.

Get ready for Tuesday night

down in Melbourne.

Novak starts the match off

and he's far from the best of himself.

Out!

He's like a boxer that needs to get hit

before he actually gives you his full attention.

But if somebody's gonna push him...

you would see epic staying power.

Out!

Genius!

When will Father Time

catch up to this guy?

Unbelievable! And Djokovic is feeling it.

Looks to me like he's laboring a bit, John.

I-- I think it was something happened...

the previous shot.

Late in the first set...

...Novak kind of pulls up

running wide for a ball,

and right away, like, you know, this could be over.

Well, you had the comment, John, early on

that Father Time is undefeated.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Djokovic is now receiving--

They just started the clock.

Okay, it's a three-minute medical timeout.

When I went out for the off-court treatment,

I didn't think that I would be able

to finish the match, to be honest.

Alright, Djokovic out pretty quickly, actually,

and appears he's got, uh...

that right groin area bandaged up.

I wouldn't be able to win against Alcaraz

if I had 10% less ability

to-- to move the way I normally move.

And so, I said, let's take all the painkillers, meds,

anti-inflammatories.

Let's do everything possible.

And I think at this point, Djokovic is in

the assessment phase of where he is now,

and what he can do and can't do.

And trying to weather this

till presumably some type of pain meds kick in.

Looks like this set's over.

And Alcaraz not affected at all

as he holds at Love.

In that moment,

Novak did what he does on certain occasions,

where he's like, "Okay,

"I'm hurt.

Unless I am crazy aggressive, I'm not winning this match."

He's gonna have to throw

the proverbial kitchen sink

to have any chance of just staying in this.

It's starting to look like

an extremely tall order.

Even for him.

- Still serving big though. - Game, Djokovic.

Yeah, nice way to start the second set.

He's probably as strong mentally

as anybody I've ever seen.

He has a capacity for pain...

that I think is unmatched.

It's like the harder something gets,

the more locked in he gets,

and he's willing to go the distance.

There's another clean winner from Djokovic.

The adrenaline combination

of the effect of the pills and everything, it all helped.

Look at this. Another ace.

Well, Djokovic may be wounded,

but he's still swinging.

Alcaraz is a lot of things,

but he's not a street fighter.

You talk about the ultimate street fighter,

Novak, like, h-he'll beat you fair and square.

"But if I gotta go down and go to the wall

"and become a street fighter, I'll do that, too.

Are you gonna do that?"

And there's the set.

Game and second set, Djokovic.

And that's good.

Look at that.

The serve has been unbelievable from Djokovic.

Game and third set, Djokovic.

It is, in the end of the day, a very mental game

because it's a non-contact sport, but...

as close to the contact as you can be, in a sense.

Almost like gladiator versus gladiator in the arena.

You wanna see your opponent feeling weak.

You can feel that from the other side of the net.

You can sense that he's doubting himself.

Oh-ho! He's everywhere right now.

As a predator on the court,

you wanna jump on that and use that.

He was compelling,

he was commanding!

And ultimately, he was just a little too cunning

for his younger opponent.

He takes down Alcaraz in four.

4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4...

in a Rod Laver masterclass.

Bravo, Nole!

My team wanted to do an MRI.

I said, I really don't think

that I should do an MRI or ultrasound,

because I know what it is.

It's a tear.

Whether it's a one-centimeter tear, or half,

or two or three, what does it matter?

I mean, I-- I wanna give myself a chance

to be on the court in semis...

'cause I had two days.

I feel like we should try to use

every available minute to recover.

Novak, how does

the physical recovery

at this stage of your career

compare to the mental recovery?

Physically, I'm able to recover.

Mentally, no, I'm not able to recover.

Mentally, I'm at the stage where...

I'm almost losing my mind.

You would think logically because when you age

you have more experience, that you would know

how to deal mentally and emotionally

with stress, with pressure.

But the body is maybe not listening to you as much.

For me, it's vice versa.

The brain...

is, um...

it's like it has had enough.

The practice days and...

- Novak. - Media.

And the expectations.

It's mostly about my own expectations.

People think like, "Oh, you know,

"you've achieved so many great things

and now you should enjoy."

I cannot enjoy.

If I have to compete...

if I have to put myself on the biggest stage...

that carries so much weight for me.

It's not only about that match.

It's about my reputation.

It's about everything.

Nole! Nole!

There are days where I feel like...

I feel like I'm the best.

There are days where I'm doubting myself, uh, a lot.

It's like, and then I'm questioning whether,

you know, I can keep up with the level of the best guys.

But I cannot be 100% dedicated to tennis.

It's not my life anymore.

I need to be, you know, the-- the husband, the father.

I need to be all of the other things.

This is the battle.

How long should I do this? W-Why am I putting myself

and my family through this over and over again?

Does a match like tomorrow

does that help or make it more difficult, mentally?

More difficult.

There's part of me that is, like, looking forward

to the challenge, but part of me is like...

You know.

I have to use my reservoirs again and again and again.

And I want to prove people wrong, you know,

that's also one of the motivations, of course.

But most of all, I want to prove myself wrong.

Because I have that inner voice

that is like, you-- you know.

I-It's doubting, you can't go on,

you know, not-- you're not-- you're not at the level

where, you know, that where you can win Slam...

anymore, you know? And deal with this reality.

There's a lot of challenges

ahead for Djokovic, and I think that's why

he's still doing this, Chris, why he's still playing,

why he's still trying to win majors.

He's done it all,

he's the greatest of all time.

But to beat Alcaraz, the three seed,

now to take on the number two seed,

if he can get by Sascha Zverev,

which I think he can, and I think he will...

I honestly had stopped being particularly concerned

about the leg.

He's just built differently.

His body's capable of responding to moments of stress.

Please welcome to Rod Laver Arena,

from Germany, Alexander Zverev!

The good story for Zverev

is he's been really fresh.

He said to us, he said,

"Listen, I feel the best I've felt in a long time."

And please welcome ten-time Australian Open champion

from Serbia, Novak Djokovic.

All eyes on this guy

in the first few games to see if there's any hints

that he might not be totally ready.

None of us knew how the recovery had gone.

We're all hoping that he's gonna be healthy.

- Unbelievable! - Game, Djokovic.

Game, Djokovic.

We played a couple of tough rallies.

And I did a couple quick movements.

I started to feel even more pull.

He's not feeling right.

That's my opinion.

Something is going on.

Novak walking very slowly.

Nole! Nole!

He was avoiding extreme.

Djokovic not quite right.

Got a delivery from the-- the pharmacy.

I just wasn't able to generate the speed.

He's not even gonna run for this.

He's feeling it right now, Djokovic.

Yeah, not at 40-Love, for sure.

Saving the energy for this tiebreak.

It just wasn't working.

Game, set.

Flubs the volley.

This is a handshake.

- It's over. - It's a handshake.

I remember turning to someone and saying,

like, wait, is he quitting?

Yeah, it became completely apparent

that he was done after one set.

The crowd is absolutely stunned.

Stunned.

He came forward to shake hands,

- and this is disappointing. - Well, yeah.

The drive for 25 ends right here.

It's not just a match, how much he invests.

And that investment is not something

that people, they can see.

This is-- this hurts all of us

to see him go out like this.

I can't believe people are booing.

That's just horrendous.

I was shocked.

Guy has poured everything he's got

- into this sport... - Yep. Yep.

...winning ten previous titles.

It's very sad to see that from a crowd.

Do you think

that it bothers him?

Of course. Of course.

He's human.

I felt the bitterness

when I was exiting the court

with that atmosphere and people booing.

But it is what it is.

In some way, I understand that people,

they want a match, they paid tickets,

they wanna come and, you know, they want to see you perform.

I get it.

I know in my heart that...

...you know, if I am able to leave it all out on the court,

particularly at age 37, semifinals of a Grand Slam...

I will do it because it might be my last semifinals

in my career, I don't know.

Is there a chance that this might be

your last Australian Open?

I don't know.

There is a chance. Who knows?

If I feel like it's not possible

for me to do what I do

and on the level that is necessary

to be able to play five sets potentially,

then I'm not gonna do it.

As simple as that, and I don't expect

all the people to understand that.

The negative quotient that he has,

I've never seen it that high

for a player of his accomplishments.

A 24-time Grand Slam champion get booed in a major?

When he's obviously injured?

Most times the public turns towards you

when you're at the end,

because they respect what you did.

And then, he gets booed?

He carries that burden that he's never enough.

No matter how much he does, it will never be enough.

Tennis is a fulfilling place for him.

It's a place where he feels...

he feels worthy.

The curse of achieving every possible achievement

that you could in our sport

is that anything less than that

is not good enough.

The feeling of not good enough has been with me

for a very long time, it's still with me.

Others might try to fool me by saying,

"Hey, you had a great Australian Open.

"You played semis. You beat Alcaraz,

"one of the best players in the world,

and you played great, amazing."

Yeah, yeah, but...

not good enough.

If Novak Djokovic won 15 majors,

the crowd would love him.

Because that would mean

he was one of the all-time great champions,

but he didn't threaten Roger and Rafa.

People would love Novak more

if he didn't threaten the order.

But to have Novak not threaten the order...

is to not have Novak Djokovic.

He's here to threaten the order.

He still has something to prove.

He's gotten to the point where he's breaking his own records.

You're battling yourself.

How do you know when it's a good time to stop doing that?

I truly feel still young.

I don't know when I'm going to finish my career.

It might be one year

or it might be another 15 years. I don't know.

As long as I have the drive...

the passion...

and most of all, as long as I feel I can win tournaments

and I can be one of the best players in the world,

I want to keep going.

The number-one doubter is here.

I'm the number-one doubter...

and I'm trying to prove myself wrong

more than anybody else.

Nole! Nole! Nole! Nole!

Djokovic, big underdog tonight.

Nole! Nole! Nole!

Nole! Nole! Nole!

Oh, it's insane!

The ten-time Australian Open champion

digs deep at age 38.

Nole! Nole! Nole!

- Out! - He's done it!

Novak Djokovic rolls back the years.

Dethroned Sinner.

You guys have been incredible tonight,

honestly incredible.

I love our passionate relationship.

Every year is something different, you know?

I think you guys got your value for the ticket today,

that's for sure.

That's for sure.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you.

Nole! Nole! Nole! Nole!

Nole! Nole! Nole! Nole!

Nole! Nole! Nole! Nole! Nole! Nole!