‘I Couldn’t Talk, I Was Nervous’ – Young Argentinian Player Talks About His Experience of Meeting Novak Djokovic for the First Time

It’s a fact that Novak Djokovic has insane popularity all around the world just like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Also, everyone respects the Serbian in the locker room as a respected professional. Many players from the younger generation look up to him. 

Sometimes, he can be intimidating for the the next-gen talent. In a recent interview, a young player from Argentina, Francisco Cerundolo, talked about his experience of meeting Novak Djokovic for the very first time.

Argentinian player talked about meeting Novak Djokovic

Currently, ranked no.76 in the ATP rankings, Cerundolo opened up about his meeting with the 20-time Grand Slam champion. According to him, he was pretty nervous when he first met Novak. 

“Last year I played the finals in Buenos Aires, and after that I traveled to Europe. Three weeks have passed, and I played Serbia Open. I am in the gym and suddenly Novak enters, I have never seen him live in my life as a player,” Cerundolo said (Quotes translated using Google Translate).

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“I was nervous at first when I saw him coming. He looked at me, greeted me and introduced himself as ‘Novak’. I couldn’t talk, I was nervous. He congratulated me on the title in Buenos Aires. It surprised me – number one in the world, he has a million things in his head, and he knows what my results are, and that of my brother. I was flattered,” the Argentinian player further explained.

Notably, Francisco Cerundolo reached the final of the Argentina Open last year. Unfortunately, he lost to compatriot Diego Schwartzman in the final. 

Djokovic’s nightmare start to 2022

After winning three Grand Slam titles (excluding the US Open) last year, Djokovic hoped for a similar start in 2022. Instead, he had a nightmare start to the season. Because of his vaccination stance, he missed the Australian Open. For the same reason, he could very well miss out on other tournaments on the ATP tour this season.

Although the Serb played at the Dubai Open, he lost his no.1 ranking to Daniil Medvedev after a three-set defeat to Jiri Vesely in the quarter-finals. It looked like a lost year for the former world no.1.

However, things could change for Novak as he has no restriction now to play the French Open due to a change in guidelines by the government. As per reports, we could also see him at Wimbledon. So, it will be fascinating to see if he can turn things around. 

Can Novak win a Slam this year? Let us know in the comments.

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