Novak Djokovic is no stranger to excellence, and on Sunday evening he found himself appreciating it from a different perspective.
Just seven days after reaching his 11th Australian Open final, where he fell to World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, the 38-year-old Serbian attended the figure skating team event at the Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina.
Djokovic, sitting alongside his wife Jelena, was visibly captivated by 21-year-old phenom Ilia Malinin after he had helped the United States to Olympic gold.
“I did see Djokovic, it’s so unreal,” Malinin said after his skate. “I heard that after I landed my backflip, he had his hands over his head. That’s incredible. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime moment: Seeing a famous tennis player watching my performance… I’m absolutely blown away.”
The Olympic Games hold special meaning for Djokovic. In Paris in 2024, he completed one of the final missing pieces of his resume, defeating Lexus ATP Head2Head rivals Rafael Nadal and Alcaraz en route to his first gold medal. It was a victory he has since called one of the most important of his illustrious career.
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