Novak Djokovic said fatherhood was his ‘biggest motivation’ to win Wimbledon this year as he walked away with his fourth title at the All England Club on Sunday.
Djokovic defeated Kevin Anderson, adding the 2018 title to his wins in 2011, 2014 and 2015 and it also took his Grand Slam tally to 13.
But Djokovic’s three-year-old son Stefan grabbed a share of the limelight after his father secured a fourth Wimbledon title by playing a cameo role on Centre Court.
As the Serb made his victory speech, Stefan, who was too young to watch the action on court, joined his mother Jelena up in the players’ box.
Speaking to the press, 31-year-old Djokovic said that fatherhood was his biggest motivation to win at the All England Club once again.
“It was one of, if not the biggest motivation I’ve had for this Wimbledon this year. I was visualising this moment of him coming to the stands, cherishing this moment with my wife and me and everyone. It’s hard to describe,” said Djokovic, who is projected to move up to world No 10 when the latest rankings are released on Monday.
“I never had him in the box watching the tennis match so I was hoping that Wimbledon could be that tournament because he’s big enough now. There are special rules here so we have to respect them.
“He was not there until the very moment when I was walking to do my interview on court. Then he walked in so that was just a moment that I will carry inside of my heart forever.”
Djokovic, who reunited with coach Marian Vajda and fitness coach Gebhard Gritsch ahead of the clay-court season, also announced plans for the pair to remain with him until the end of the year.
“We talked post-match and it seems like he’s planning to keep on working with me, which is great news. We going to keep on working till the end of the year for sure, then we’ll see after that,” Djokovic said.
“Obviously I’m so grateful to Marian and to GG for coming back. After a year of not working with them, they continued with their lives, doing different things, so leaving that aside and coming to join me again, help me to get to where I am at the moment, it’s really nice of them. I love these guys very much.”
