Before participating in the Indian Wells 2024 tournament, Novak Djokovic was in Los Angeles and one of his commitments there was the Upfront Summit. Among many things, he revealed his concerns over the lack of attention towards grassroots tennis in Serbia. He hailed the American sports culture at the student level, keeping special praise for UCLA.
The Upfront Summit is an invitation-only event that hosts thousands of businesspersons, corporates, and celebrities. Speaking to millionaire media executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, Djokovic touched upon the issues at junior-level tennis in Serbia.
He said children of his generation grew up poor because of the war hence everything that tennis gave them was a bonus. He believed today’s youth players should also receive incentives to stick to the sport. The World No.1 claimed certain studies revealed children in his country were giving up on tennis at much younger ages than earlier. This greatly puzzled him since they have been successful in the sport in recent years.
“We grew up with nothing literally nothing and then, you know, obviously, everything you experience is an incredible bonus. So, I think it’s very important always to have in mind all these base-level players, juniors, they need to be incentivized. In our country, I meant to say, that we had 15 years ago a stat that was saying that the kids were leaving tennis, for whatever reason, at an average age of 14 or 15. And 5 years ago, it was 11-12, which is paradoxical because we had so much success and you would think…”
Novak Djokovic said while tennis is popular, the infrastructure and system is lacking and needs improvement. He said not only Serbia, but all countries should look at American sports as an example. He said a system like the NCAA should be incorporated to uplift youth tennis. The Serb lavished praise upon the facilities provided to the football and basketball teams at UCLA. He believed while their tennis team is also doing well, the sport is still ‘miles behind’.
“I mean tennis is popular, but because we have a lack of system, and of course the economics and organization, we have to improve on that. Not just in my country, but overall, we have to make sure we get closer to all the American sports. For example, I was at UCLA yesterday. It’s amazing, the football team there, the conditions, the facilities, the basketball team. The tennis team is doing well as well, don’t get me wrong, but I think you know we are still, you know, miles behind.”
Novak Djokovic full of praise for UCLA after entertaining hordes of students
Ahead of the Indian Wells Masters 2024, Djokovic chose to train at the University of California, Los Angeles, campus. The prestigious university is only about a couple hours away from Tennis Paradise. Returning to California after five years, he had nothing but positive words for the UCLA tennis grounds. He said he loved the energy and vibe of a college campus and how all sports’ facilities were close by (Sportskeeda). He revealed interacting with the tennis teams and their coaches, also sharing that he trained at their football facility.
Novak Djokovic graciously opened one of his practice sessions for UCLA students to attend. Unsurprisingly, people poured into the stadium, packing the lower stands. After his training, he entertained autograph and selfie requests. However, with no security around, it descended into pandemonium. Regardless, Djokovic kept his cool and fulfilled as many requests as possible in the mob of students. University sports journalist Jack Nelson captured the moment and shared it on X (formerly Twitter). Fans further lauded the 24-time Grand Slam winner for reportedly not charging UCLA anything.
After the disappointment of his Indian Wells 2024 exit, Novak Djokovic would look to make amends in his next tournament, which would be mostly be the Monte Carlo Masters. This is after Forbes reported on Thursday that Djokovic will be skipping the Miami Masters 2024 event.
