I'm going to start by making an apology.<br>>> Tennis star Novak Djokovic, he had a<br>hearing overnight to decide whether he<br>will stay and play the Australian Open.<br>>> The world number one has been booted out<br>of Australia.<br>>> Deportation marks the end of his<br>Australian Open hopes.<br>>> If I want to go to America, I have to<br>take a test and show him my vaccination<br>status. That's it. So, he shouldn't be<br>allowed to play, right? Stops you from<br>dying. I mean, that's the whole point of<br>the vaccine. He's also a role model who<br>will have definitely deterred a lot of<br>people who perhaps should have the chat.<br>>> What you said, it speaks volumes about<br>the person that you are. I'm just saying<br>I'm not like that.<br>>> It's part of you also thinking I'm not<br>sure I can compete against these guys at<br>this level. Now,<br>>> to your point, yes, I do have more<br>doubts that I can win slams,<br>particularly against these two guys.<br>I just stared at the wall for 20 or 30<br>minutes and I that's the first time I<br>felt really empty. I just want to regain<br>the love and you know passion for the<br>sport because I lost it.<br>>> So if you one day played your son at<br>tennis in a<br>>> I mean that's that's a dream<br>>> in a professional game. You wouldn't let<br>him win would you?<br>>> I would kick his<br>on on sinner. Do you is there a cloud<br>over him about the drugs thing?<br>>> That that cloud will follow him as the<br>cloud of COVID will follow me.<br>>> Should ask him.<br>>> I only interviewed goats.<br>>> I expected worse. This is not against<br>you and this you're kind of uh like<br>intelligently hiding.<br>>> Novak, we meet at last.<br>>> At last.<br>>> I've never met you. Uh, I've talked<br>about you quite a lot and I'm going to<br>start by making an apology and it's for<br>this is I was very sensorious about you<br>over the COVID scandal that you got<br>caught up in and in a nutshell you got<br>thrown out of Australia over what seemed<br>to be on the face of it from what the<br>media were being told and what was being<br>reported was you trying to bend the<br>rules of getting into play Australian<br>Open uh without having taken the COVID<br>vaccine. And I was I was actually quite<br>sensorious about a lot of people at the<br>time and I've since apologized to some<br>people for being too tough on them<br>because once it became clear that if you<br>had the vaccine it made no difference to<br>whether you could then transmit the<br>virus. Clearly at that point for me it<br>becomes a personal choice. if the if the<br>potential danger is irrelevant compared<br>to whether you have the jab or not. And<br>so I have on that basis said look I I<br>believe the vaccines were important. I<br>think they saved a lot of lives. I had<br>lots of people in my life at the time<br>who were going through a terrible time<br>with COVID. One of my co-workers on the<br>morning show I was doing a husband was<br>in a coma from CO. He sadly died. a<br>friend of mine say goodbye to her mother<br>on FaceTime uh who was in a care home<br>and died uh from COVID and so on. I I<br>knew lots of people. So it it felt quite<br>personal. It felt quite visceral to me,<br>but I was too sensorious. So when more<br>information emerged about your<br>situation, the fact you'd had COVID<br>several weeks before you went to<br>Australia, the fact that you hadn't<br>actually done anything wrong on the form<br>filling, the fact that in the end it<br>became a political decision to throw you<br>out based on likely public anger if they<br>didn't take action. When I look back on<br>that and reflect on that, I would like<br>to say I'm sorry for the inmperate<br>language I used against you because I<br>didn't know you. I took what I was<br>reading and hearing at face value. It<br>turned out to be more complicated and<br>yeah I I'm I'm sorry for overegging the<br>rhetorical sule.<br>>> I I appreciate that very much honesty.<br>Thank you so much. It was uh<br>>> it was difficult times and and um you<br>know state of emergency globally. I I<br>understand you know we've been through<br>we've been through hell globally all of<br>us on this planet and uh you know the<br>only thing I would add not to really dig<br>deeper into this this whole uh situation<br>on on the covid and vaccination is that<br>I ne I was never a proponent of antivax<br>or provax. I was always freedom of<br>choice. So uh and that was<br>misinterpreted. You know I was<br>proclaimed to be you know one side or<br>the other side or so forth. it's either<br>black or white. And I said, you know, it<br>doesn't need to be that way. As an<br>athlete, as someone that, you know,<br>takes care of the integrity of the body<br>and and and understanding of of<br>obviously doing my research and<br>understanding that I not a threat to<br>anybody and I don't need to do it<br>myself. And I've been through two times,<br>two or three times I had COVID in in<br>like a year, year and a half. So I had<br>all the antibodies, etc. So anyway, uh<br>long story short, uh good to see you<br>here. Uh good to finally meet you and I<br>appreciate and I respect the fact that<br>uh you know uh what you said uh it's it<br>speaks volumes about the person that you<br>are. So I I really respect that and I<br>was looking forward to speak to you even<br>before uh before you were slamming me<br>for for some time. But<br>>> uh check what I said about you. I I have<br>been very nice about you as well.<br>>> Right. you have on that particular<br>issue. I I went too far. I I would say<br>on the nice side that as we sit here,<br>I've made it very clear publicly to me,<br>you I've spent this morning with<br>Cristiano Ronaldo, who I know you know,<br>and we'll come to him a little later<br>because there are a few things you have<br>in common, but you know, he's he's to me<br>the greatest football player that's ever<br>lived. You to me are now indisputably<br>the greatest tennis player that's ever<br>lived. And I've said that and I'll say<br>it to your face. Um, so appreciate that.<br>I hope we can move on from the slightly<br>negative way this had to start because I<br>felt compelled to say that because I<br>think it's important to be<br>intellectually honest and when the<br>narrative around the efficacy of whether<br>the vaccine could stop you infecting<br>people changed. I realized I'd been just<br>too sensorious. Right.<br>>> But on the positive note,<br>>> as you sit here,<br>do you feel yourself that you're the<br>best tennis player that's ever played? I<br>I've been asked this question quite a<br>bit uh particularly lately in the last<br>several years because of obviously<br>there's a lot of stats that uh you know<br>people play with and they do comparisons<br>between Nadal Feather and myself<br>primarily because of our numbers um of<br>Grand Slams won tournaments won weeks<br>spended number one at the world etc but<br>um my my answer is quite consistent uh<br>when it comes to overall general<br>discussion on the greatest of all time<br>and I'm going to say it again which is<br>uh I'm not going to say whether I'm the<br>greatest or not because that's it's not<br>my position to to say that<br>>> and I would say that that would be very<br>disrespectful towards the generations<br>that have paved the way for me Nadal<br>Feather and all the others uh it's so<br>hard to compare eras<br>um you know our report has gone through<br>quite a transformation in the last 50<br>years.<br>>> You just see the records, right?<br>>> I mean in terms of technology, in terms<br>of uh equipment, in terms of the bowls,<br>the the the surfaces, in terms of the<br>>> fitness, in terms of the the the staff<br>uh of the team of people that is around<br>the player, it has become so much more<br>professional. Not just not not because<br>of the fact that it wasn't 30 40 50<br>years ago but it just the times are<br>changing and and the science the sport<br>science is improving so people have more<br>access to data to information and hence<br>why everyone gets uh uh more cautious<br>and more I would say interested in in<br>understanding of what it takes in every<br>single aspect of your life how you can<br>get an edge or a slight percentage of<br>improvement so so you<br>uh better your performance, your<br>recovery, etc. So, uh uh the likes of<br>Borg,<br>>> um<br>uh Rod Lever, John Mackenro,<br>>> um th those people that have, you know,<br>created a history of the tennis that we<br>enjoy today. What people say when they<br>argue that you're the best<br>>> is that if you take all surfaces,<br>>> right,<br>>> and you compare your record to anybody<br>in history, yes, you've won the most<br>grand slams, but actually you won on<br>everything consistently,<br>>> right?<br>>> That is what makes you unusual. Most of<br>the others you could say on certain<br>surfaces they're stronger, on others<br>they're not as strong, and obviously<br>same applies to you to a degree, but<br>you've won consistently on all surfaces.<br>Well, I think the modern tennis required<br>me to do so. Uh, and going back to 80s,<br>you had uh, three out of four grand<br>slants played on grass<br>>> and now the grass is the uh, you know,<br>least played surfaced on and I mean it's<br>it's one months a year and it used to<br>be, you know, predominant surface on the<br>tour. So, it the game has evolved a lot.<br>uh you used to have 90% of the players<br>only up to maybe 90s or maybe even late<br>90s early 2000s that would play serve<br>and volley and they would you know<br>switch from uh wooden rackets to graphit<br>graph graphite rackets and then<br>obviously move into more uh lighter and<br>refined materials and which with this<br>kind of materials uh you would be able<br>to um you know play from the baseline<br>with more control with more accuracy,<br>with more precision. That wasn't the<br>case with more robust materials like<br>like wood or or or or graphite because<br>you you know you you you it allowed you<br>to serve well with with good speed, but<br>then you know you didn't have many<br>players playing with a lot of spin.<br>Bjornborg was the first one that stayed<br>the stayed back and he hasn't he ca he<br>would come in but he would stay back<br>quite a lot and so that would confuse a<br>lot of the players and and I mean hence<br>his incredible career and and<br>achievements and I think<br>>> you know we would probably be sitting<br>down today and talking about Borg being<br>the greatest<br>>> if he kept going. He he retired when he<br>was 26. He won 11 grand slams until that<br>point<br>>> which I mean Alcaras is is kind of on<br>the way to do something like that. Uh<br>>> so it's it again I I I don't feel really<br>comfortable. I appreciate the fact that<br>you're bringing this forward uh to me<br>but I never felt really comfortable to<br>talk about myself about being as being<br>the greatest because I I consider myself<br>as a great student of the game and I<br>respect the history of the game. I<br>respect all of the greats. So I just and<br>then some of those greats were my<br>coaches like Boris Becker for example<br>that I consider as part of my family. So<br>I I just feel more comfortable leaving<br>that discussion to others and of course<br>a great honor and privilege to be part<br>of that discussion.<br>>> But the bottom line Novak is you've won<br>24 Grand Slams and that is more than any<br>player in history.<br>>> The stats the stats don't lie.<br>>> That that is true. That shows a<br>remarkable longevity and especially with<br>Federra and Nadal snapping around that<br>number, but ultimately you prevailed and<br>you all had long careers. That's why for<br>me in the end<br>>> you're the you're the top dog. You may<br>not feel comfortable, but<br>>> I appreciate it. Part of you like I know<br>you were a fan of tennis and sports, so<br>I appreciate it.<br>>> What does it take in terms of sacrifice?<br>I read somewhere recently you were<br>talking about you've got two two kids<br>they're getting older I've got four kids<br>I know what that's like when they get to<br>a certain level they start playing sport<br>and you want to be there you want to<br>watch them have their journey on life<br>and there starts to be that thing you<br>know Cristiana was talking about it a<br>slight sort of feeling when you just you<br>start to have your I guess your<br>desire to be somewhere used to be<br>single-mindedly<br>>> right<br>>> on the court and winning and then it<br>starts to be slightly conflicted<br>with your family and wanting to be there<br>for them and you you were talking about<br>that entering your head for the first<br>time. Talk about that for a moment.<br>>> It's interesting. I had that discussion<br>with some of my family members in the<br>recent days as well<br>>> because I'm going through some form of a<br>transition myself, you know, and and and<br>trying to<br>>> uh enter this this last chapter of<br>however long is going to last for for me<br>in my career<br>>> with the the the peace of mind where<br>I'll be able to still maintain that<br>hunger<br>uh and the competitiveness on the court,<br>but yet um you know deal with some<br>realities that at this moment are you<br>know not easy for me to accept you know<br>being the dominant player for most of my<br>career for over 20 years and now being<br>dominated by particularly lauras and<br>sinner in the last<br>>> what is that like I mean for two young<br>whippers snappers to come<br>>> look I mean I I I knew it was going to<br>happen eventually that you know the guys<br>will come and they will you they'll<br>start to dominate and you're going to<br>they someone will form a new rivalry<br>that is you know coming after the big<br>three or the big four that have<br>dominated a sport for over 20 years and<br>I think it's a natural uh progress and<br>evolution in in sport in general.<br>>> Uh so sinner and Alcaras I think they're<br>great for our sport. I mean, their<br>rivalry, their matches, and they played<br>one of the most epic matches of all time<br>in the finals of Roland Garas this year,<br>which was incredible just just to watch<br>and and I was I was reflecting on that<br>actually when I was um at Wimbledon,<br>they asked me whether I watched it and I<br>said that I didn't want to watch it<br>because I lost semi-finals against<br>Sinner in in Roland Garrison. I went<br>back home and when I'm done with the<br>tournament, I just want to switch off. I<br>want I don't want to see any tennis at<br>least for a few days. I want to be<br>unless my my my son wants to play and<br>then that's different obviously but my<br>son and my wife particularly also my<br>daughter to some extent but particularly<br>my son and my wife they're big tennis<br>fans so they love to watch tennis they<br>love to watch the finals of big<br>tournaments grand slams so I was somehow<br>trying to drag them out of the house and<br>I did that and I said let's go watch me<br>you know have lunch have a walk and<br>they're like they didn't want to<br>confront me but they were like we really<br>want to watch this match and I said,<br>"Okay, you know what? You can watch a<br>set, you know, let's just go." And then<br>and I I thought that the match will be<br>over by then. I I kind of planned my<br>time outside for like couple of hours. I<br>thought it's going to be like two and a<br>half hours and they kept going. They<br>they went for five and something hours.<br>So, we went back and we ended up<br>watching for two hours.<br>ExpressVPN is the simple way to protect<br>your privacy online. In the US, internet<br>providers record your online activity<br>and can sell your data. In many<br>countries, they've even legally required<br>to store your information for years.<br>Along with millions of others, I use<br>ExpressVPN to stop the tracking. It<br>hides your IP address, and it roots all<br>your activity through encrypted servers<br>to keep advertisers and scammers from<br>accessing your data. You can choose the<br>level of protection you need. The basic<br>plan is just $349 a month, less than 12<br>a day. Right now, you can get an extra 4<br>months of ExpressVPN if you go to<br>expressvpn.com/pers.<br>Just scan the QR code on the screen or<br>go to expressvpn.com/pers<br>to get four additional months of<br>service. That's expressvpn.com/pers.<br>>> How were you feeling watching them?<br>Honestly,<br>>> you know, honestly, honestly, no, I was<br>feeling various things. First, I I was<br>feeling like<br>uh a refusal to watch. I was like I was<br>kind of forced to watch because because<br>just because my my family wants me to<br>watch.<br>>> Yeah. I can't think of anything to<br>watch.<br>>> Right. And so so then then I was uh and<br>then I I but that went away quickly<br>because then I was really you know when<br>you when I watch tennis uh which is I I<br>assume for Cristiano when he watches<br>football<br>>> you you see it with a different eyes<br>than than a regular football or tennis<br>fan. And and then I I was very<br>analytical at the beginning. I was like<br>you know trying to understand the game<br>and what they're tactically doing to<br>each other. And then I entered the phase<br>of admir admiration<br>>> and I was I I haven't felt that too many<br>times in my life<br>>> uh when I was watching someone else<br>play. I I felt a couple of times when I<br>watched Feather and Adal uh face each<br>other. Uh so just maybe four or five<br>matches in in my life that I watched and<br>I said wow this is<br>you know astronomical level of tennis is<br>amazing. So that that's what I felt the<br>>> But are you also is part of you also<br>thinking I'm not sure I can compete<br>against these guys at this level now<br>>> or or is part of you thinking actually<br>maybe I can't but I'm determined I'm<br>going to<br>>> yeah I what's the mindset I I can't<br>that's what I was saying like in terms<br>of transition you know mentally because<br>you know I I'm aware of what's happening<br>you know I mean I'm aware that these<br>guys are my best level now their best<br>level now they're better.<br>>> Okay, that's that's the reality. I mean<br>I for most of my career you know the<br>visualization practice the the the the<br>techniques that you know uh brought me<br>to the level of the mental strength and<br>self-belief<br>>> and the achievements that you know I h I<br>have always believed in things that are<br>almost impossible<br>>> to achieve and I knew that the message<br>that I uh tell myself or the the signal<br>that I give to myself the words that I'm<br>telling myself internally<br>and what I verbalize<br>is sent out to the universe and it comes<br>back<br>>> in the same way that you send it. So I<br>was I was always trying to be very<br>cautious and it's not always possible to<br>be very positive and optimistic<br>obviously but I was I I was trained from<br>the young age to to to think greatly<br>about myself and to nurture the<br>self-confidence because that's going to<br>eventually whether it's sport or<br>anything else in life bring you the<br>rewards um and and and allow you to<br>chase your dream<br>>> uh and basically not don't you know not<br>not settle for any boundaries. you know<br>and I my childhood was you know<br>boundaries all over the place you know<br>there's come from a country that was war<br>torn sanctions embargo tennis zero<br>tradition of tennis in our country so<br>you know most expensive sport uh you<br>know the scarcity and poverty of my<br>family and all the other families in our<br>country most of the families and so I<br>picked the most expensive sport and it's<br>and and so 99% of the people were<br>obviously Is he laughing at us and when<br>at us I'm saying us because primarily my<br>father and I and my father<br>>> you know I just thought you were wasting<br>money<br>>> you know my but both of my parents<br>they've done you know I cannot never<br>repay them for what they've done for me<br>>> uh enough uh but my father believed very<br>oftent times more than I believed in<br>myself so that's why I say us but you<br>know so going back to the point<br>yes I I understand the power of the<br>thoughts but at the in time there's a<br>biology there there are things that are<br>happening and I'm you know 38 going into<br>39 and the wear and tear is real and uh<br>I I believed that to some extent I'm a<br>superman that can never injure himself<br>uh that can never be weak etc but you<br>know I got the slap from from reality<br>the last couple of years and and and<br>it's not like I'm paying the price but<br>I'm just getting to know this this new<br>chapter.<br>>> I have two I have two words for you.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> Tiger Woods. So, Tiger Woods, absolutely<br>peerless golfer, number one in the<br>world,<br>>> right?<br>>> Ding went through very different<br>trajectory to your story, but he went<br>through a lot of stuff, which meant he<br>plunged to number 1100 in the world. And<br>there's a brilliant video, I think Nike<br>did it. It's a mashup video of everyone<br>riding him off. He's finished. He's<br>done. He'll never win again. No, Tiger<br>was They're laughing at him, right?<br>And then he wins the Masters in 2019<br>against all expectations he takes all<br>the young pups down.<br>Do you think like you know next year the<br>year after suddenly at Wimbledon?<br>>> I think I've done that already last 23.<br>>> Yeah, but before actually Olympic games<br>you think there could be a few years<br>perhaps where you don't win and then you<br>win again and is that is that in your<br>makeup to do that? So to your point,<br>yes, I do have<br>more doubts that I can um win slams<br>particularly against these two guys.<br>But at the same time, I I know that when<br>I while I'm still active and when I<br>enter on the court, you know, I don't<br>care who is across the net. I always<br>believe I'm better and I believe that I<br>deserve to win and I'm going to do<br>everything I can do to win. So, uh,<br>bottom line is that one, you know, I<br>have I'm nurturing still the winners's<br>mentality. Uh, and I I just hope and<br>this is one of my primary goals is to is<br>to maintain<br>the the body in shape. That is,<br>>> if I can be reassuring, you're not in<br>bad shape.<br>>> I'm not in a bad shape. I'm not being<br>funny to the eye.<br>>> If you want to know what a out of shape<br>body looks like, exhibit one is staring<br>you in the<br>>> No, you're right. I expected worse.<br>You're right.<br>>> I have a my my pinned tweet on my ex<br>account is Cristiano from the last<br>interview saying, "Yeah, I can see you<br>have good abdominals." Yeah. And I say,<br>"Thank you." And it's had 200 million<br>views. So 200 million people think<br>Cristiano Ronaldo said to me, "My abs<br>were great. I'll take it." Um, I'm not<br>going to I'm not going to splice up you.<br>>> I don't know if it's US or UK studio.<br>And I I think your your your your glass<br>table is quite high. So you you're kind<br>of uh like intelligently hiding what you<br>want you don't want to display in the<br>TV. It's pretty good.<br>>> I'll have you know I've only played one<br>pro tennis player on television. It was<br>Serena Williams. Check the video. That's<br>all I'll say.<br>>> Okay.<br>>> At one stage she screams, "Oh god,<br>you're good."<br>>> about my tennis. I listen to it.<br>>> Wow.<br>>> And it is quite something.<br>>> Do you listen to that before you do your<br>interviews? I just I watched it this<br>morning before I knew I'm seeing it.<br>>> That's great. It sounds like a good<br>motivation.<br>>> I think you should watch it. It could<br>get you going. But but see, I find your<br>mind because I think your mindset is<br>very similar to Ronaldo's. I think the<br>pair of you have I would say of I would<br>add Michael Jordan, Pete Tiger Woods. Um<br>there are just certain people in certain<br>sports who I think exhibit just the most<br>ferocious mental strength and resilience<br>which I think you have to have to be the<br>best at what you do. And I think in your<br>case, the really interesting thing for<br>me is where that comes from.<br>>> You know, in Ronaldo's case, he was just<br>hungry, literally physically hungry. He<br>tells the story of queuing up behind a<br>McDonald's just to get free burgers<br>because he was so hungry when he was at<br>the Lisbon Academy. In your case, I<br>think it was born, and correct me if I'm<br>wrong, but you talk about coming from a<br>war torn country. You were in Belgrade<br>as the NATO bombs were crashing down for<br>month after month after month. I've read<br>that you can't even listen or hear<br>fireworks without this giving you<br>slightly traumatic PTSD. You know, to go<br>through that when you're a young a young<br>guy as you were.<br>>> Just take me back there for a moment.<br>What What are your most vivid memories<br>of that time?<br>>> Actually, it's interesting. I didn't<br>know uh about Cristiano's um experience<br>of waiting in line, literally being<br>hungry.<br>>> Uh I have something similar. Uh I was I<br>think<br>uh I could have been six seven years of<br>age and we you know we had two wars in<br>90s. We had the the Yugoslavian breakout<br>war and then we had the the bombings in<br>99. So between the start of the 90s of<br>91 when the war started and end of 90s<br>we were we had embargo I think maybe<br>four or five years maybe even more. So<br>you know obviously nothing comes in that<br>comes out of the country and obviously<br>you know the the poverty level was was<br>extremely high and uh we were waiting in<br>line for for one loaf of bread that us<br>family of seven or eight were sharing uh<br>that day. And so those experiences, life<br>experiences were very real and and that<br>made it that made my journey even even<br>more special in a sense that I<br>appreciate life<br>>> and everything that life has and God has<br>granted me with uh much more because of<br>my upbringing. So um I I I normally<br>don't like to reflect on that with a<br>great sense of um how can I say<br>not sadness but in a sense like I don't<br>want to whine about it or complain about<br>it because I believe that you know<br>everyone<br>>> wears a cross on his or hers back that<br>is that he or she is meant to wear. So I<br>my journey is my unique personal journey<br>that I had to go through and made me who<br>I am. So I'm very grateful for that.<br>Was it easy? No, absolutely wasn't easy.<br>But that was essential integral part of<br>who I am as a person and that is<br>probably the foundation of my mental<br>strength and resilience.<br>Because when when you are uh uh you know<br>u in doubt<br>of what tomorrow brings<br>uh not just for yourself but for your<br>entire family and for your city for your<br>country<br>>> and whether you will be able to survive<br>the next day uh facing a match point in<br>grand slam is not that hard. You know,<br>there's a great quote from a cricket<br>player called Keith Miller who was an<br>Australian in the 50s and 60s, great<br>allrounder, swashbuckling character, big<br>party guy as well. And he flew in the<br>Second World War in the Royal Australian<br>Air Force, flew bombers, I think. And<br>when he came back, he was captaining<br>Australia in a game, I think, against<br>England. And the press asked him after<br>the first day, difficult day for<br>Australia, they were struggling. They<br>said, "You must be feeling the pressure,<br>Mr. Miller." And he famously said,<br>"Pressure." He said, "Let me tell you<br>what pressure is, mate. Pressure is<br>having a meshes up your ass, not a game<br>of cricket,<br>>> right?<br>>> I mean, that's really what you're<br>getting at, right? Pressure for you<br>>> is not a match point against Federa.<br>It's whether you're going to actually<br>survive bombs coming over your head,<br>>> right? So, it's a matter of perspective.<br>I agree with that. And I think it puts<br>things in perspective when someone says<br>that.<br>Nevertheless,<br>I still feel that pressure that we<br>experience as athletes or<br>you experience in your work or someone<br>else in their work is real and<br>sometimes it can help to put things in<br>perspective,<br>>> but a lot of times it doesn't.<br>>> So, what do I mean by that? I think it's<br>important to um understand that you know<br>what you're going through is a real<br>experience and that you not being able<br>to overcome certain tasks and challenges<br>and folding under pressure you know<br>doesn't make you weak it makes you a<br>human being that goes through that<br>experience so Jordan for example that<br>was one of my sporting idols that you<br>mentioned one of the obviously goats of<br>of the big global sports He uh you know<br>he said that people remember his the<br>shots that he made. People remember his<br>>> I quoted today successes<br>>> at the joy for I quoted the fact he said<br>they never talk about the three times<br>>> they never talk about those shots that<br>he missed.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> And and in one of my favorite quotes of<br>him he says I missed and I missed and I<br>missed or I failed. I failed I failed<br>and that's why I succeeded. So, so as a<br>lot of the times people have this<br>fantasy of the great sporting champions<br>and athletes and the icons of being the<br>faultless, you know, demigods that can<br>do it all. It's absolutely not like<br>that. I mean, I failed so many times in<br>my care. Actually, I I I almost have a<br>50%<br>uh success rate at the Grand Slam<br>finals. a bit more than that, but<br>almost.<br>>> So, you've lost nearly half.<br>>> So, which is not that great<br>>> when you think about it. I played many<br>Grand Slam finals and I won 24, but I<br>lost<br>>> I don't know how many at the moment, but<br>anyway, quite quite a lot. So, the point<br>is that you need to go through that<br>experience because and and this is very<br>consistent across all the fields of<br>life. All the successful people always<br>say you learn always much more from your<br>failures than from your wins.<br>Um so it in sports what I see and what I<br>notice particularly with men<br>>> is that there is this um<br>uh a little bit of a dogmatic and<br>stigmatic uh uh um mindset uh about<br>emotions.<br>You know vulnerability makes you weak.<br>>> You cannot show your tears. You cannot<br>show your weakness because then you know<br>you are the prey. Um, you know, I<br>disagree with that. Uh, I I I believed<br>for most of my career, for first part of<br>my career, that that that is the way to<br>go. Uh, but then soon I realized that,<br>you know, you can't suppress the<br>emotions forever.<br>>> Eventually, they'll start breaking your<br>body, your mind or whatever. So,<br>eventually you have to address it. All<br>the things that you put under the<br>carpet. So, so basically this is a<br>little bit more philosophical in that<br>sense. But you know when you're entering<br>on the court for me I'm not a tennis<br>player NovakJokovic. I'm a NovakJokovich<br>person who has to deal with all the<br>other things that are happening in my<br>private life that people don't know<br>about or should not know about, but I<br>know about them and and I am a human<br>being that you know I I feel affected in<br>my heart and in my brain and I<br>>> So here's a hard question because I<br>totally agree with you, right? I had to<br>run a newspaper newsroom of 400<br>journalists aged, you know, in my early<br>30s. And often you'd have all sorts of<br>terrible stuff to deal with in your<br>life. Yeah. And you got to walk out, you<br>got to exude an air of invincibility, of<br>super confidence because otherwise it<br>doesn't the act doesn't play as the<br>leader, right?<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> So I I totally get that part of it.<br>>> But did you play better when you were<br>fueled by difficult things going on in<br>your life or when you were really happy?<br>A lot of people say like musicians that<br>their their albums when they're happy<br>are terrible. But when they're<br>tormented, they're great. You know,<br>artists, you know, painters, same thing.<br>If you're honest, when have you played<br>your greatest tennis? At times of<br>difficulty in your life or at times of<br>of happiness?<br>>> I would say both.<br>>> Right.<br>>> I would say both. Um I respect that and<br>I understand your point and their point<br>and it's true that I have experienced uh<br>you know when I was experiencing a lot<br>of adversity and some difficult moments<br>in my life that's when I you know draw<br>this strength and and turn it and<br>convert it into fuel that then helps me<br>perform my best tennis.<br>uh which you can say that it was a kind<br>of a storyline of you know most of my<br>junior days and kind of coming into the<br>professional tennis and kind of winning<br>the first you know uh bunch of slams<br>>> in that kind of emotion of like uh<br>hunger and needing to prove everybody<br>wrong and and and like<br>>> uh being upset with the childhood that I<br>had and needing to like just you know<br>prove to myself and others that I I'm<br>you know the best and I can be the best<br>and I can live these dreams from you<br>know coming from uh from from that that<br>kind of environment and circumstances<br>but I also I mean I think that<br>uh it just depends it's quite relative<br>and individual so it just depends where<br>you draw your strength from mostly<br>uh so I I think that kind of mentality<br>helps to at least in my case to a<br>certain extent and then and then you<br>you get fed up with that, you know, like<br>I I don't want to be drawing things<br>from, let's say, somewhat of a negative<br>emotion just because somebody hates me<br>or said something or whatever, so I'm<br>going to prove him or or them or<br>whatever wrong,<br>>> even though that is also a fuel. Still,<br>it remains at times, but uh it's more uh<br>it's it's it's more really a<br>constructive energy, I would say. It's<br>more like okay uh at least at this point<br>in my life in the last five years it's<br>like okay I have achieved great things<br>in in in this sport um you know probably<br>around postcoid time is when<br>I entered this last phase of my career<br>that I didn't know how and still don't<br>know how long that's going to last but<br>you know how am I going to feel about<br>you know my career playing tennis and<br>and how am I going to balance it with<br>family life because you mentioned the<br>fatherhood. That's something that<br>extremely important to me. So there's a<br>lot of sacrifice that you have to do and<br>I don't want to miss out on on the<br>greatest things of my family, the the<br>most important dates.<br>>> I don't I don't want my kids to, you<br>know, not remember me for being there in<br>in you know I think a lot of us fathers<br>that are traveling for our work<br>>> understand this very was talking about<br>it. So, so that's when I realized that I<br>have to, you know, uh reconstruct the<br>way I'm thinking and reinvent myself in<br>a sense and draw the the fuel and<br>motivation from from other things.<br>>> When when was the when was the moment if<br>you look back so far? So, sorry to to<br>interrupt, but for me, one of the things<br>that I want to say is one of the<br>greatest motivations is<br>>> to have both of my children<br>be old enough to experience their daddy<br>winning grand slams and being there and<br>I have been so blessed and fortunate to<br>experience that multiple times now. So,<br>that for me is not a is not a fuel or<br>motivation that comes from a negative<br>place in contrary. So, I feel like you<br>can you can do both. Just depends where<br>you are in your phase in life.<br>>> When was the utopia moment for you in<br>your playing career to date? In other<br>words, if I could let you relive one<br>match, one game, one set, whatever it<br>may be, a period of your career.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> If I could let you relive it because at<br>that moment you felt like you were<br>playing at the highest level you've ever<br>played at, what would it be?<br>>> Be beginning of 2015 to mid 2016. And<br>what's that feeling<br>>> those 18 months? We were actually<br>reflecting on that last night with my<br>team.<br>>> What's that feeling like?<br>>> Uh because you're unbeatable, right? No<br>one can beat you.<br>>> It's invincible.<br>>> Pretty pretty much like that. Literally<br>>> Superman does.<br>>> It's it's just it's a it's a it's a<br>great feel. I mean, it's a great<br>feeling. It's honestly you're on on on<br>the clouds. I mean, you're just like<br>anything you do, you know, turns to gold<br>or anything you touch. I mean it it just<br>and I you know not many athletes maybe<br>experience that for so long. No<br>>> you know so I I'm I'm look I'm blessed<br>you know I<br>>> could any other player I mean let's park<br>the goat debate right because that's<br>over a whole career<br>>> but do you think at that in that period<br>any other player in history could have<br>beaten you?<br>>> No.<br>>> Right.<br>>> No. No. at that time at that time. No, I<br>mean but again you can what if you know<br>you can maybe<br>>> do comparisons and whatever<br>>> some amazing players whatever of today<br>50 years ago but I just<br>>> when you are in your prime and then you<br>you you you you enter this<br>>> zone that is often mentioned in the<br>psychology of the sport where champions<br>are talking about you know being in the<br>zone the most difficult<br>>> place or state of mind to achieve but<br>easiest to lose.<br>And I've stayed there for 18 months. So<br>I I've Yeah, it was<br>>> I can tell even even as you're<br>remembering it, it's<br>>> the greatest warm glow.<br>>> Yeah. It's like<br>>> the greatest surfing wave ever.<br>>> A massive wave and it never stops for 18<br>months.<br>>> Exactly.<br>>> And then eventually it it crashes down.<br>>> Eventually it crashes down that I had<br>the S. Look, it's it's it's the cycle of<br>life, you know. I I like the analogy of<br>the waves actually for life.<br>>> You know, it goes up and down, up and<br>down.<br>>> Getting older hits you like a freight<br>train, or so people tell me. Stiff<br>joints, gym recovery dragging on loose<br>skin. Aging is cruel, but it doesn't<br>have to win. Today's show is sponsored<br>by Bubs Naturals collagen peptides.<br>Collagen is the body's glue, but it<br>starts fading from your mid20s. Bubs can<br>restore it, delivering stronger joints,<br>healthier hair and nails, smoother skin,<br>and faster recovery. It's a high quality<br>product. No sugars or fillers. Whole 30<br>approved and NSF certified for sport.<br>You can even stir it into your morning<br>coffee. Live better longer. For a<br>limited time only, uncensored viewers<br>are getting 20% off at Bubs Naturals by<br>using code peers pie at checkout. Just<br>head to bubsnaturals.com<br>and use code peers. After your purchase,<br>they will ask you where you heard about<br>them. 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Use the code<br>peers and get 70% off your first order.<br>Yes. 70% off with the code peers.<br>There was a British prime minister who<br>Jim Caligan in the 70s and he he said<br>that being prime minister that early on<br>it's like you're in a a stormy ocean,<br>right?<br>>> And you're being crashed by wave after<br>wave after wave. And eventually you<br>realize it's always like that.<br>>> And so you learn to ride the waves and<br>navigate the waves. I imagine I've never<br>been in this position but I imagine<br>being an elite sportsman at the highest<br>level it that's what it's like<br>>> weathering the storm constantly and when<br>you are uh riding the wave of<br>invincibility or you know because at<br>that that period I had I think almost 20<br>or 19 finals in a row and uh uh you know<br>dominating in in all surfaces and all<br>tournaments there was no tournament that<br>I didn't play that I was not in the<br>finals So<br>that's also quite dangerous place to be<br>in mentally and emotionally if you know<br>what I mean because you're like I mean I<br>can play every week. I don't get tired.<br>I'm fine. I'm great. Nobody can beat me<br>and so forth. So your ego grows,<br>>> you know, and then then the natural<br>cycle of the waves has come to the point<br>of decline and then and then it hits you<br>harder than ever,<br>>> right? And that's when I actually had uh<br>the the most ma the the the biggest<br>injury in my career which was my elbow<br>and I operated I went out of the tour<br>for almost a year and so forth. So that<br>was a big you know slap in my face like<br>oh wow okay<br>>> go from invincible and then you're not<br>>> going to invincible but even when I<br>before that big injury was coming slowly<br>step by step and I was kind of masking<br>it and you know you take tablets and<br>painkillers and you're like no I just<br>keep going I I will not address it now<br>your body sends you signals you you stop<br>those signals and that's it's a vicious<br>cycle in on the highest level of of<br>sport and I'm I'm sure that the the<br>athletes who play on the highest level<br>understand this because this is this is<br>it's super dangerous place to be in<br>because the more you uh delay proper<br>addressing of the injury the worse it<br>gets and I remember particularly one<br>point in Wimbledon that was my always a<br>childhood dream tournament to to play on<br>and to win uh 2016 I I held I won my<br>first Roland Garrison and I held all<br>four slams at the same time and uh and I<br>was one of the you know few very few<br>players in history that managed to do<br>that and I never and I was telling all<br>of all of the people around me you know<br>my wife and parents and everybody that<br>were like you know maybe you should take<br>some take a little break and then come<br>back and then like you know because you<br>achieved it all and then it's like no no<br>no I mean don't worry about motivation I<br>I'd have no issue with that I'm never<br>going to experience something that I<br>have read or heard other athletes<br>experiencing that they said well you<br>know it comes to the point where you<br>just feel empty you don't feel you have<br>any<br>>> but I was like what is this like I'm<br>never going to experience that and I<br>experienced it few few weeks later<br>>> for the first time ever<br>>> it was a a court one in Wimbledon third<br>round I was playing uh Sam Query<br>um and I think it was third or fourth<br>set it was a rain interruption And we<br>had two rain interruptions. The first<br>one uh my team joined me and we talked<br>and I had a little stretch with my<br>physio. We went back. I kept going and I<br>I I I was two sets to love down. I won<br>the third set and I gained the momentum<br>and I felt better about being on the<br>court. Another raining delay. I go back<br>to the isolated room and the stadium and<br>my team comes and I'm like, "Guys, you<br>just have to leave me alone. I just want<br>to be by myself." And they're like, "You<br>don't need, you know, maybe we talk. No,<br>I just don't want to talk. And I let the<br>bags, everything. I didn't want to<br>drink. I just stared at the wall for 20<br>or 30 minutes. And I that's the first<br>time I felt really empty. And and that's<br>and that's when I I realized that you<br>know all the um stress and tension and<br>and excitement and anticipation all the<br>strong emotions that I was feeling for<br>whatever years coming to that moment you<br>know my brain has had enough and I I<br>just needed to reset and uh and so you<br>need to reset and and and I had to do it<br>many times in my career.<br>where you just have to<br>>> Did you win that match or<br>>> I lost that match. I lost that match and<br>and then I I had a break and then I came<br>back and I skipped some tournaments and<br>came back uh played finals of US Open<br>and then that's the year when uh Andy<br>Murray ended up uh as the year end<br>number one and he beat me in O2 Arena in<br>the world tour finals<br>>> and um and and and after that match even<br>though I I kind of lost huge gap of the<br>points that I had as an advantage over<br>him And you know, I thought everybody<br>thought, you know, it's going to be a a<br>piece of cake, you know, finishing as<br>number one. But he, you know, he was<br>redot on some streak of four or five<br>tournaments, one in a row. And I didn't<br>care about whether I'm going to finish<br>number one or not. That's the that's the<br>kind of a stage or or or a condition<br>that I had at the moment. I was state of<br>mind. I was just I just want to regain<br>the love and you know passion for the<br>sport because I lost it. So that was<br>that was the case.<br>>> Extraordinary insight into what has gone<br>on with you. There's a there's a great<br>line you you said when I was 12 my<br>father sat me my mother and two younger<br>brothers down at the table. He left a<br>$10 bill on the table and said this is<br>all we got.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> Wow. What a moment. Right. $10 sitting<br>there. Right.<br>>> That's it.<br>>> It was actually 10 Deutsch marks<br>>> at the time which is equivalent at the<br>time it was something like $10 or<br>whatever.<br>>> Right.<br>>> Yeah. I<br>>> do you remember what that<br>>> I remember very vividly how that<br>happened and when it happened and and<br>and so because it was one of the one of<br>the turning points of my life. Um and I<br>understood the message behind it from my<br>father which was okay I need you to man<br>up. I need you to uh mature earlier than<br>you're supposed to. I need you to maybe<br>take the role of the of the kind of a<br>second father of the home and take care<br>of your brothers.<br>I did feel that.<br>>> I did feel that and that helped me with<br>my tennis actually. I mean, I always had<br>discipline and and I was so in love with<br>tennis and so passionate about it and<br>very lucky to encounter certain coaches<br>and mentors and people that were very<br>knowledgeable about sport and life in<br>general. So I had the very good guidance<br>>> and then at home I mean because of the<br>circumstances that we were all going<br>through in our country uh you know there<br>was there was a lot of tension you know<br>my my father he was you know it was a<br>matter of survival you know my mother<br>she was trying to you know navigate<br>everyone clean cook prepare all of us<br>you know the the the three boys plus the<br>father and father was trying to figure<br>out the way how we can survive as a<br>family and and So it was it was tough.<br>It was tough. It was real life. And um<br>uh but you know when I look back to it<br>now, I'm actually grateful that we went<br>through that experience because you know<br>it makes you appreciative of everything<br>else that you have right now. You know<br>because you come from that.<br>>> How much are you worth now? Do you know?<br>>> Approximately.<br>>> Give me a give me a ballpark.<br>>> I don't like to talk about it, Pierce. I<br>don't I don't like<br>>> Are you a<br>>> Can I guess?<br>>> I'm I'm north of 1 million.<br>>> Well, I reckon you're probably if I was<br>a guessing man, I'd say at least three<br>to 400 million.<br>>> Maybe.<br>>> Maybe more. You know, I never you know,<br>we live in a in very materialistic<br>society nowadays. And<br>>> I'm only the reason I'm ask<br>>> I'm not I'm not this is not against you<br>and this but I'm just I I'm just saying<br>I'm not like that. I'd never I don't I<br>don't like and I you know my team and my<br>agent you know we don't I don't want to<br>give all the information to Forbes for<br>example what you know how much I'm worth<br>or what the investments are or what you<br>know it's it's none of their business<br>like why should I disclose that for what<br>reason you know what I mean like there<br>are things that are disclosed with price<br>money obviously that people know about<br>or contracts but the other things no<br>>> does money I mean just given that scene<br>at the family table, 10.<br>>> Money is important.<br>>> Money is important.<br>>> Money, what does money bring you? I<br>mean, it brings you the obvious, but<br>does it is it the security that money<br>brings you that you you can take care of<br>your family? I presume you've taken care<br>of your family.<br>>> Money is very important and it does<br>bring security. No doubt about it. And<br>it it is absolutely uh you know, one of<br>the driving forces of the society of<br>today. And you know, you cannot neglect<br>the importance of the money. But money I<br>you know if money is the only thing<br>you're thinking about I mean at least in<br>my case and in my experience obviously<br>I'm an athlete. So for me it's kind of a<br>meritocracy model. If I you know if I<br>win a tennis match or win a a tournament<br>I get rewarded. I get sponsorship deals<br>etc. But also you know it's it's a lot<br>about the mentality. It's a lot about<br>the brand that you want to create around<br>yourself. I have and I don't like again<br>I don't like to talk about this too much<br>but I did refuse a lot of the big brands<br>and and and big paychecks in my career<br>because I cannot represent something<br>that I don't believe in. Uh and I feel<br>like I've always tried to play a long<br>game.<br>>> What was the biggest one you turned<br>down?<br>>> Uh<br>I cannot name brands. I'm sorry. But,<br>you know, it's actually one of the it's<br>probably the most famous<br>uh drink in the world.<br>>> So, it's Pepsi or Coke.<br>>> No comment.<br>>> It's 50/50. It's one of them.<br>>> But what was without naming which one it<br>was then, but how much was the deal you<br>rejected? I'm curious.<br>>> It was It was a long time ago. So, it<br>was it was it was pretty good. Few<br>millions.<br>>> Pretty good. It was pretty good.<br>>> I mean, that takes<br>>> bit more than that.<br>>> Tens of millions. Not tense, but<br>>> a lot close to that. I<br>>> that, you know, given where you were<br>Yeah. as a family.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> To reject that kind of money takes a lot<br>of<br>>> moral fiber.<br>>> It's just it's it's the integrity that I<br>care about. It's protecting what is,<br>you know,<br>>> valuable to you in your life. It's as<br>simple as that. If I if I don't don't<br>drink something and I I don't drink and<br>my kids don't drink it. You know Ronaldo<br>you mentioned that's the famous video<br>you remember when he removed was it<br>Gatorade or Coca-Cola and he put the<br>water and said drink water.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> I respect that a lot.<br>>> I respect that a lot. It takes a lot of<br>courage.<br>>> You know you're similar to him in many<br>ways because his father went to war for<br>Portugal.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> And that it caused him a lot of issues<br>with alcohol and stuff and caused him to<br>die very young. He never really saw<br>Cristiano become the superstar he<br>became. He he died just before that<br>happened. And when I first interviewed<br>Cristiano, I got quite emotional about<br>his dad.<br>>> But you know, you both come from a kind<br>of war torn upbringing of no money. I<br>mean, I it's interesting he was talking<br>about his son who's now playing for<br>Portugal under 16s, I think, and saying<br>how the one thing he can't give him is<br>actual hunger. That it's the one thing<br>you can't give people. If you're a<br>successful person with plenty of money,<br>you can't give your kids hunger.<br>>> Yes. Yeah. That's difficult.<br>>> You just have to hope it's driven from<br>within. But it's never probably going to<br>be as intense as when you're sharing a<br>loaf of bread between eight people<br>>> or he's doing the same<br>>> his son or my son in this in this<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> scenario or circumstances that I mean we<br>we can give our kids as we do everything<br>best that you can imagine in this<br>planet. But yeah, I I our kids have to<br>find a source.<br>They have to find that source. Whatever<br>the source is, where wherever and<br>whatever it is. And again, going back to<br>that question of whether you can only<br>draw strength from a negative emotion.<br>>> I don't think it's the only source. You<br>can also draw it from a lot of positive<br>things. Yes. It just depends how wired<br>you are. And these are some some things<br>you can't control. And I'm learning that<br>as a young father like like we all want<br>to like not control our children but<br>control the environment that they grow<br>up in so they can have the healthiest<br>possible environment. They can they have<br>a healthy surrounding but you know you<br>need to let go. They it's their journey.<br>It's their life. And uh so my son he's<br>um he's just turning 11 in few days time<br>and he<br>seems like he's choosing to play tennis.<br>So how do you feel about he's I I feel<br>excited.<br>>> Is he good?<br>>> I feel excited and and frightened at the<br>same<br>>> has he got has he got all the talent?<br>>> He he's I think he's got some good jeans<br>in him, you know. Well I don't know<br>who's<br>>> he's got the best<br>>> I would hope he has no back.<br>>> No, no, he's he's good. He's I mean he's<br>good but I look I want to be his father.<br>I don't want to be his coach.<br>>> But would you mind if he chose<br>professional tennis as his career?<br>>> I would not mind<br>>> with all the comparisons that would come<br>his way.<br>>> If that's the I'm I am slowly trying to<br>introduce<br>>> the world of tennis and sports and all<br>of these things to him. And I can't<br>throw everything at him at once. you<br>know, I'm I'm picking and choosing the<br>right moments. And so, if<br>this is the journey that he chooses to<br>have, I'm going to be one million%<br>behind him, supporting him every step of<br>the way in whatever shape or form.<br>But, you know, he's going to have<br>>> like Ronaldo's son, you know, a big<br>mountain to climb<br>>> uh because mostly because of the other<br>other people,<br>>> right?<br>>> Right. But if that's the way, yeah,<br>let's go. Let's go.<br>>> He What part did a<br>>> Wait, did Cristiano say that he would<br>like to live to play with his son<br>official game?<br>>> I didn't ask that exact question, but he<br>he just he said his son's very talented.<br>He's playing for the Portuguese national<br>team at representative level. He just he<br>just knows he can't give him that one<br>thing he had.<br>>> And so in in the end that hunger<br>>> has to come from within<br>>> for his son is what 16? Yeah, he's about<br>15 16. Okay. He's very talented player.<br>>> No, it's it's quite realistic. I mean,<br>if you know, Cristiano keeps going for<br>it. Looks like he's gonna keep they<br>could play together.<br>>> And you know what? He'd still want to<br>score more goals<br>>> cuz LeBron Yeah.<br>>> like LeBron on his fun. Yeah.<br>>> Cuz LeBron James, he lived that.<br>>> So if you one day played your son at<br>tennis in a<br>>> I mean that's that's a dream<br>>> in a professional game.<br>>> That's a dream. You wouldn't let him<br>play doubles with him.<br>>> You wouldn't let him win, would you?<br>>> To play against him.<br>>> Yes.<br>>> Oh, no. I I don't want No, I wouldn't<br>want I wouldn't want that.<br>>> You wouldn't let him beat you. I never<br>let myself.<br>>> Of course, I wouldn't let him be. I<br>would kick his<br>>> What part did Aliens play in your in you<br>meeting your wife?<br>>> There's a reason I'm asking that in a<br>very specific way because you told Hello<br>magazine.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> Uh in 2023, us getting together was like<br>science fiction.<br>>> You haven't explained what you mean. Um,<br>so we've been dating. It's Gelania.<br>Yeah.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> Um,<br>>> you were 18, you married several years<br>later. So, you married young, you met<br>young.<br>>> What was the science fiction?<br>>> That's a funny now. I understand where<br>the phrase of the question comes from.<br>>> Uh, I don't recall saying there was a<br>science. I don't even know why. Why?<br>Why? Why do I Why did I say that? I'm<br>trying to remember. Okay. So, the way<br>right well it did, but you know, I<br>believe in destiny for sure. So, um, she<br>used to play tennis,<br>>> but we never met through tennis while<br>she was playing it, but she dated one<br>tennis player that is a friend of mine<br>from early days. And uh and it was funny<br>because the first time I uh heard about<br>her was when that friend who was in the<br>same tennis club as me<br>>> played a match for in the tennis uh<br>regional tennis league and we won an<br>important match. He took out his jersey<br>and underneath the jersey he had the<br>white shirt written Yelena I love you.<br>>> Really?<br>>> This is for you.<br>>> And we were like oh my god that's so<br>lame. who like why why would you do<br>that? And then who is this Yelena? And<br>it was her. And then uh and then she<br>showed up afterwards and so forth. And<br>then we we known uh each other through<br>obviously common friends for about you<br>know four or five years.<br>>> And actually one of my best friends uh<br>is has been her friend and they went to<br>school together. So, you know, we were<br>in a kind of similar same company and<br>then uh yeah, and then we started dating<br>when I went to live in Monte Carlo where<br>>> and she spit up from your friend, by the<br>way.<br>>> And she's Yeah, she did.<br>>> You know,<br>>> just to make it clear,<br>>> steal your mates, please. Don't put me<br>on the spot here. She was uh she went to<br>study in uh in Italy and then we started<br>we started to date. So, she's basically<br>the Yeah. The only serious like long<br>serious relationship I ever had.<br>>> That's amazing.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> Amazing.<br>>> Yeah. I I mean I had you know obviously<br>some few months relationships here and<br>there but I she's the only<br>>> You're truly the love of your life.<br>>> Truly the love of my life.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> What happened to your mate?<br>>> To my mate?<br>>> Is he still your<br>>> I actually spoke to him yesterday.<br>>> I really have. You know he's uh he's<br>good.<br>>> You don't make he moved on. He moved on.<br>He has his family. You don't make We<br>actually never<br>>> She swapped me for a better play.<br>>> We actually never spoke about really.<br>>> No, I I think we we're both very<br>uncomfortable about speaking.<br>>> We still remain mates. So, it's good.<br>>> Listen, I've got friends who went out<br>with my sister, a few of them, and it's<br>still uncomfortable 40 years later.<br>even though she's been very happily<br>married for nearly 30 years.<br>>> Um, the I saw you on Nick Curios's<br>YouTube channel talking about Cristiano<br>being a role model and so on, but also<br>referencing that you use biohackers like<br>Gary Breer who I've interviewed actually<br>um that that scientific part of yeah<br>maintaining your form, your physique,<br>your fitness, your health and so on.<br>You're quite into that, aren't you? I<br>think you you see your body like a kind<br>of<br>>> you know temple and you want to protect<br>it at all<br>>> costs right<br>>> do you feel with AI because I do<br>>> that what's going to happen we're going<br>to before we fully transition to robots<br>we're going to have Elon Musk has kind<br>of hinted at this we're going to have<br>like part robot like you could have a<br>problem with a part of your body and<br>it'll be robotically<br>enhanced and you'll start to become like<br>half human half robot and could that I<br>mean could we have Novak Djokovic in 20<br>years still competing but you're half<br>robot<br>>> with robotic arms and everything could<br>happen.<br>>> I don't<br>want to think about that scenario to be<br>honest. I'm not look I feel like AI<br>helps<br>for sure uh to a certain extent but this<br>whole thing with robots and chips<br>installed in people I completely against<br>that.<br>>> Have you seen the humano his optimus<br>humanoid robots? Have you seen that?<br>>> I haven't. No.<br>>> So they dance like Michael Jackson,<br>right?<br>>> They they they shoot at cars like<br>policemen. I mean it's it's<br>>> What happens if you lose control over<br>them?<br>>> Well, that's what everybody's afraid Oh,<br>so this is the thing. So I did the last<br>interview with Professor Steven Hawking<br>before he died.<br>>> And I said, "What's the biggest threat<br>to mankind?" He said, "When artificial<br>intelligence learns to self-design, in<br>other words, think for itself, it's all<br>over." Because they'll look at us and<br>go, "Well, these are a complete<br>>> and they are obviously far more advanced<br>than we are." Yeah. In terms of<br>>> they would just get rid of us all.<br>>> Then we have robots competing at<br>Wimbledon.<br>>> Would you like to see that?<br>>> I don't know. I mean, yeah, you'd have a<br>robot doing this interview. Well,<br>sometimes when you know see Sinner and<br>Alers playing nowadays, it seems like<br>>> the robots<br>>> robots<br>>> on on S. Do you is there a cloud over<br>him about the drugs thing? Is it a case<br>of the top players get treated at a<br>different level in relation to that kind<br>of thing to lesser players who are not<br>as important? I mean look um<br>that that cloud will follow him as the<br>cloud of COVID will follow me<br>>> for the rest of his or my career in this<br>in this case. So it's just something<br>that it was so major<br>>> and that when it happens it just<br>you know over the time it will fade but<br>I don't think it will disappear. So<br>there's always going to be, you know,<br>certain group of people that will always<br>try to bring that forward.<br>>> Do you do you believe him?<br>>> Look, I've known Yanik since he was<br>probably 14, 13, 14 years of age because<br>his first coach, I know first, but first<br>like serious coach that was working with<br>him in those crucial years was my coach<br>as well,<br>>> Ricardo Pati.<br>And uh I used to train quite a bit at<br>Pat's Academy in Italy. And I was<br>practicing with sinner a lot of the<br>times when he was a junior and you know<br>I I liked him actually a lot because he<br>was always skinny as I was and tall and<br>grew up skiing, grew up on the<br>mountains. So very similar story to mine<br>>> and he always came across very genuine<br>very nice uh very quiet you know u had<br>his own you know world and he didn't<br>really you know care too much about the<br>the lights of the society so to say but<br>just he would just wanted to be the best<br>player he can be and I I like that I<br>like that his mentality. So when this<br>happened, I was I was shocked honestly.<br>I So I<br>uh I do think that uh he didn't do it on<br>purpose.<br>>> Um but the way the whole case was<br>handled is so many red flags.<br>>> If he'd been number 500 in the world,<br>>> that's<br>>> I think he'd have been banned.<br>>> That's exactly.<br>>> Isn't that the reality? There is the the<br>lack of transparency, the inconsistency,<br>the convenience of, you know, the ban<br>coming,<br>you know, between the slams so he<br>doesn't miss out the others. It's just<br>it's so it was very very odd. Very very<br>odd. And and uh and so I really don't<br>like how the case was being handled. And<br>you could hear so many other players,<br>both male and female, who had some<br>similar situations coming in, you know,<br>coming out in the media and complaining<br>>> that it was a a pref preferable<br>treatment.<br>>> Inarguable. Yeah.<br>>> Yeah. So, so I think essentially I mean<br>I I want to believe and I I knowing and<br>my history with him, I think, you know,<br>he he he didn't do it on purpose, but of<br>course he is responsible<br>>> because those are the rules. you are<br>responsible when something like this<br>happens. And so when you see someone for<br>something very similar or same being<br>banned for years and then he's banned<br>for<br>>> provisional whatever three months or<br>whatever it was, it's it's just it's not<br>right.<br>>> And he's his name doesn't help, does it?<br>>> And it's not he's number one in the<br>world and obviously<br>>> his name over<br>sinner.<br>>> I mean if you're call sinner<br>>> no look I mean makes it even harder.<br>It's not it's not easy for him obviously<br>and I I I do have you know sense of<br>empathy and compassion for him because<br>and I think he has handled the the storm<br>in the media that keeps on coming back<br>every once in a while. He's he's<br>handling that very well and very<br>maturely and very steadily and and I I<br>kudos to him for that. But it's it's<br>definitely not easy. And in the midst of<br>all of that, he's still dominating. He's<br>still playing incredible winning slams,<br>winning.<br>>> So I think it's interesting. You you<br>should interview him. Yeah,<br>>> you should ask him, you know, he should<br>share some of that<br>>> thought process and how he has maybe<br>used that as a fuel. It would be<br>interesting to<br>>> I only interviewed goats.<br>>> Okay,<br>>> that's fair enough.<br>>> That's why you're sitting here.<br>>> Fair enough.<br>>> You got the goat slot.<br>>> Fair enough, sir.<br>>> No, it's been fascinating talking to<br>you.<br>>> It was I've never met enjoyable.<br>>> Yeah, you've you've been great to talk<br>to. Incredibly open. I mean my my last<br>question was just going to be at when<br>you have to retire at some stage.<br>How how would you like to be remembered?<br>Wow, that's a it's a good question. Uh,<br>one of the the<br>people that has helped me a lot with uh<br>my<br>uh mental strength and one of the<br>greatest sports psychologist ever to<br>live. Uh Dr. Jim Leer who worked with uh<br>a lot of the champions and number ones<br>in the world, both men and women tennis<br>world. Uh he he's one of his main<br>questions is what would you want to have<br>on your tombstone?<br>>> Yes, it's a great question.<br>>> And so it makes you makes you wonder,<br>you know, makes you ask yourself like,<br>you know, how do you want to be<br>remembered? I I would love I mean<br>obviously<br>the achievements and the results and the<br>you know crowns and titles is something<br>that I am very proud of. I cannot<br>neglect that. I'm very proud of it. I've<br>worked my ass off for my entire life to<br>get to the point where I am and to be in<br>this discussion. So I I I take with<br>great pride with that. But I do believe<br>my my uh tennis father as I like to as I<br>like to call him passed away<br>um passed away a bit more than a month<br>ago. And I I was at his funeral. It was<br>the first funeral that I was ever<br>present on<br>>> and uh never I I was never at the I<br>because of tennis and because of also my<br>um avoidance of the of the emotions and<br>of the sadness. I I I did not go to the<br>funeral of my greatgrandfather that I<br>was very close to and this was the first<br>funeral that I was present on and<br>my biggest takeaway from that other than<br>incredible sadness and emotions that I<br>felt is<br>the human connection<br>>> uh connections that he has<br>left behind and established throughout<br>his life and his career.<br>how he touched people's hearts who were<br>not just there on that funeral but who<br>were also in the tennis club which was<br>Paul's funeral little event that was uh<br>created in his honor. Uh the way people<br>talked about him it was not about tennis<br>>> and what he has achieved as a player or<br>as a coach or who he has coached and<br>etc. It was about who he was as a<br>person, how he conducted himself with<br>people, uh how he changed the lives of<br>the young people or anybody who he was<br>uh coming close to. And that's how I<br>want to be remembered. I want to be<br>>> So imagine a tombstone.<br>>> Yeah.<br>>> And it says, "Here lies Novak Jookovich.<br>What do you want it to say?"<br>>> The the man who touched people's hearts.<br>That's great.<br>>> I want I want to cry right now. I think<br>I've<br>>> I think I've realized what I want on my<br>tombstone.<br>>> I love that.<br>>> Thank you. Thank you for that. You<br>>> I love that<br>>> you helped me come to that realization.<br>>> I'm here to help. You know that Novak.<br>>> Thank you. Thank you very much.<br>>> Thank you.<br>>> Great interview. Thank you very much.<br>>> Amazing. Amazing.<br>>> Pers is proudly independent. The only<br>boss around here is me. If you enjoy our<br>show, we ask for only one simple thing.<br>Hit subscribe on YouTube and follow<br>Piers Morgan Uncensored on Spotify and<br>Apple Podcast. And in return, we will<br>continue our mission to inform,<br>irritate, and entertain. And we'll do it<br>all for free. Independent uncensored<br>media has never been more critical, and<br>we couldn't do it without you.