Barely a year ago, Novak Djokovic was battling his way back from injury and surgery. However, looking at his sublime form now, one could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. During that period of recovery, he even wondered if his reign at the top of tennis was over for good.

Since 2018, the Serb has been in the form of his life, winning three grand slam titles on the trot was enough proof.

The World Number 1 spoke to CNN at the Laureus World Sport Awards in Monaco earlier this week. Djokovic credited the one person responsible for getting him back on his feet, his wife, Jelena.

According to Djokovic, Jelena’s unwavering support was came at a time of adversity. During that time, he felt that his obstacles seemed too challenging to overcome.

He said that without her by his side, it would have been difficult to play competitive tennis at such a high level.

Until his surgery in 2017, Djokovic was agonisingly close to eclipsing rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The 2017 surgery was done to take care of an elbow injury sustained in 2016.

Former coach Andre Agassi was admittedly frustrated with Djokovic’s adamant stand against going under the knife. When speaking to The Guardian, Agassi revealed that Djokovic hoped was it would “heal naturally, holistically.”

Even Novak’s wife, Jelena confirmed that the idea of surgery was a “big deal”. She admitted that when he started taking the painkillers it went completely against everything they believed in.

“It was really huge,” she continued. “He buried one part of him with that decision.”

The road back to the top spot in the ranking was riddled with numerous challenging moments. Jelena said, “At one stage he (Djokovic) said: ‘I’m done. I’m not playing tennis anymore. I’m not having fun anymore. I’ve lost it.'”

Fortunately for everyone, the 15-time grand slam winner refused to throw in the towel. His 2018 Wimbledon triumph put to an end a two year grand slam title drought. Since then, he has gone on to add the U.S. and Australian Open crowns to the trophy cabinet.

“I feel like the reason why our bond is so strong is because for me he’s never a tennis player,” she said.

“He never worked for the glory, for the money, or for any of it. He was always about values. Living the life fully. Committing yourself to the life of purpose. That’s what I’m in love with.”