Follow us on Google Discover Novak Djokovic is currently in Riyadh for the next stage of his season, where he is taking on the Six Kings Slam.
Djokovic received a bye into the semifinals of the Six Kings Slam, where he takes on defending champion Jannik Sinner.
Sinner defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in their quarterfinal in Riyadh, while Taylor Fritz won his battle with Alexander Zverev.
The American will take on Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinal, with the Spaniard and Sinner potentially reuniting in the final as they did last year.
Djokovic enters the tournament, which is not affiliated with the ATP Tour, on the back of a semifinal run at the Shanghai Masters.
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty ImagesNovak Djokovic shares strong opinion on tennis that he knows will upset people
Tennis fans have criticised the Six Kings Slam coverage, while Djokovic has now issued concerns of his own regarding the sport in general.
Taking part in the Joy Forum alongside sporting icons Shaquille O’Neal and Dana White, the Serbian was asked if there was a moment in his career when he realized being his authentic self was actually commercially beneficial to him.
Djokovic replied: “Yeah. So the way I would describe it is conforming to the society’s norms, or conforming to the tennis norms or rules, quote unquote, imaginable rules that you have to dress a certain way.
“Tennis has been the sport of elites, has a long history, but has that kind of foundation that a lot of people reflect on, which is good and bad in a certain way.
“I would say good, because we have a heritage and tradition and history that we’re proud of, and it’s a very global sport.
“But it has so much potential that is unused, that’s on the bad side. Because the innovation is obstructed, it’s sabotaged.
“Because you have to behave a certain way, we’ve gotten used to seeing people behave a certain way, or talk or play or whatever it is. So I didn’t want to conform.
“I go back to my upbringing. My childhood wasn’t normal as 99% of my colleagues. We are very righteous people. I come from a family where, when you see there’s injustice, you do something about it.
“And in our sport, there’s a big monopoly that has been there for decades. And so that was actually the biggest inspiration for me and Vasek Pospisil, who was my colleague tennis player, we founded the Professional Tennis Players Association, which is basically a union of players, which we don’t have.
“In all the American sports… Shaq, you were one of the leaders of the players’ union back in the days when you guys were fighting for the pay, for the equal pay, and representation of the players.
“We don’t have that in our sport, we didn’t have it. Now we have the PTPA, but still we don’t have a seat at the table where the decisions are being made. That’s the downside of our sport and the way it’s structured. The system is as it is.
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
“To go back to the point, I’ve always wanted to be looking to innovate where I see there’s room for innovation, and stand up and with my achievements.
“I have thankfully a platform and a mic in my hand, and I can say certain things that are going to hurt a lot of people, and they’re going to disturb a lot of chairs.
“But I don’t care, because at the end of the day, I love this sport. This sport has given me everything in my life, so I want to give it back. Not just on the court, but outside of the court as well.
“What can I do for the players? What can I do for this sport? How can I personally engage in certain changes that these gentlemen know very well about in their respective sports? How can we force that in the right way?
“So that’s something that is going to… a lot of people are going to oppose that, they’re not going to like it, but at the end of the day, I can sleep well, my heart is in the right place, and I know that I’m doing something that inspires me.
“The fire that Shaq referred to, it just keeps going, because as long as you live, as long as you breathe, you want to create, you want to make this world a better place from the standpoint of where you are.”
Why ‘very open’ Novak Djokovic deserves to speak out about tennis
Aryna Sabalenka says Djokovic is “very open”, and that’s certainly the attitude he had during his latest assessment of tennis.
And he certainly deserves praise for such an approach, which is indeed likely to upset many stakeholders in tennis.
But Djokovic made no excuses for his comments, with the Serbian definitely deserving a say considering what he has given to tennis for the majority of his life.
He sits atop the all-time men’s Grand Slam titles list, and boasts 100 titles and over 1000 wins on the ATP Tour.