Beneath a twilit storm cloaking the mountains north of Beijing in a silvered, shifting fog stands Novak Djokovic—the most decorated men’s tennis player of all time—dressed in a wood-brown Lacoste suit, attempting to pull off a photoshoot atop the Great Wall of China.
Since signing with them in 2017, Lacoste has been one of Djokovic’s main sponsors, and he their marquee athlete. The label had put together an ambitious event, called Play Big, at the Ju Yong Guan section of the Great Wall, which partly served as a welcome-back fête for their star, who had not been on Chinese soil in half a decade. A few days after Play Big, his return to competition in the country started on October 5 at the Shanghai Masters. (Worth noting: A good chunk of those absent years were due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
The tempest’s timing made for an auspicious, borderline-wild interview setup as we sat, all but stranded, in our wind-whipped tent. There were many things to discuss, especially when considering the Serbian-born 37-year-old’s recent career-high milestone: 2024 saw Djokovic finally win his Golden Slam (adding his gold at the Paris Games to his myriad Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon, and US Open victories). We spoke at length about that moment, what might come next, some of what he’s learned as a parent—and his eternal admiration for Jim Carrey.
Vogue: After winning your first gold medal in Paris this summer, it would seem that there’s no major prize for you left to claim—the dream, hardware-wise, is complete. What was the first thing you thought when the emotions subsided?
Novak Djokovic: Well, I think that’s the thing: The emotions did not come down for quite a bit, to be honest. I really didn’t allow myself to think about how close I was to the finish line until I got to the match point. And then, when I won, I felt…an emotional intensity and a quantity of emotions that I had never felt on a tennis court before.
I played some of my best tennis ever, really, on the big stage against [Carlos] Alcaraz, who was in form. And it was an incredibly unique match—one of the most-watched performances, I think, at the Olympics, across all sports—and it was just a great pleasure to be part of that history. Clinching that gold medal—with my family, my wife, my kids being there, and my fellow Serbian Olympic athletes coming out to support me—is a full circle, really, after achieving all of the great things that tennis has to offer. The gold medal was what was missing, and I really felt the sincerity of the emotions after I won, when I went to celebrate in the Olympic Village and the whole Serbian team came out, danced with me, and sang with me.
With Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal now retired, do you agree that we’re in a kind of “changing of the guard” moment? Tennis is always evolving, of course, but do you see one chapter closing and another beginning?
I don’t think it’s that black and white—because if it is, I consider myself belonging to the older guard, unable to compete with the younger guys. It’s definitely a transition, but it takes time. It’s a natural process, and people have been talking about it for many years. Now we have younger guys, yes, but also we have the generation that is not the youngest: [Sasha] Zverev, [Daniil] Medvedev, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas. Those guys were or are all top-10; Medvedev has been number one. They’re going to stay up top for a while, along with the younger ones.
But I think you’re thinking of Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner. They’ve developed an incredible rivalry in the last 12 months, and rivalries are what really attract a lot of attention to the sport. People that don’t necessarily even follow tennis, per se, they do follow rivalries; they follow contrasts.
You ended up having a three-sided rivalry—four, if we include Murray.
For the first several years of my career, when I was trying to break through, the rivalry was Federer and Nadal, and it felt like there was no room for a third guy.
Fair.
I did have my rivalry with Andy Murray, who is my same age, and we grew up together. But over the years, with our achievements and results, we expanded that rivalry and made it a “Big Four” era. It’s something that I like to believe has left a great, positive mark on tennis. And I think that’s why, at the end of the day, it’s good to have fresh blood on the tour and a new rivalry that is strong, authentic, and that just gets people connected.
Tennis was a huge part of the pop culture conversation in 2024, largely due to the movie Challengers. Did you see it?
Yeah—I had a little chat with Zendaya about it as well in Paris, before the Olympics started. She said that she’s always asking tennis people whether she did a service or disservice to the sport with it. I compliment it—I think it’s amazing that a superstar like her would be interested in doing a movie about tennis.
Do you think tennis will keep growing, beyond being a kind of pop culture talking point?
Tennis is a very global sport, and a very popular sport—our Grand Slams are pillars that have lasted for almost 150 years. We have tradition, we have the culture, we have the history, we have the style, we have a certain prestige with where tennis came from, and we have how broad and accessible it is now. I think we have all the aspects to be even more popular.
In both the zeitgeist and in terms of people participating?
I’d like to see more public tennis courts. I’d like to see the sport expanding in local communities. And now, with the emergence of pickleball, padel, all the racket sports…
Padel is huge.
Yeah—everyone is talking about it. But did you see at the US Open how they were actually advertising that tennis is the “healthiest sport to play”?
Yes—they had it on the sides of the net.
Whoever plays tennis lives the longest!
Amen.
Also, with pop culture: The intertwining of big fashion brands and tennis, or sports in general, is bringing interest and attention, and it allows tennis to maybe reach certain audiences that haven’t been reached before. Lacoste does an amazing job of it—but then again, they were founded hand in hand with tennis.
That’s a smart callout. The style element is important, and it runs from tennis style influencers to certain tennis-centric design signatures from people like Thom Browne and Ralph Lauren, to Gucci signing Jannik Sinner.
One hundred percent—that’s why I’m saying the potential far exceeds what you see on the court itself. The sport of tennis is like a lifestyle brand that encompasses everything from travel, hospitality, wellness, mental health, nutrition, fashion; there’s a spiritual aspect. You have so many different elements that are in play.
You’ve long had memorable interactions with crowds—though sometimes they’ve been a bit tense.
Of course, I’ve had matches where the crowd was against me and cheering for my opponent. But I’ve gotten used to it—I know how to, in most cases, behave in my own favor and be able to stay calm and not take anything too personally. But sometimes I get carried away—and then, if someone is stepping over the line from the stands, I like to respond to that. But I’ve also had plenty of amazing matches where I experienced an amazing atmosphere.
There was one match that I lost: the finals of the 2021 US Open against Medvedev, where I was trying to complete a calendar Slam—to win all four Slams in a year. The level of appreciation and support that I received from the crowd that day, walking out on the court, is something I’ll never forget. Twenty thousand-plus people gave me a standing ovation. That really caught me off guard.
How do you really, truly relax—or do you never really unplug from tennis?
I do. I primarily spend time with my kids and my wife—my family is everything to me. I try to be involved in the kids’ everyday chores, taking them to school. Every once in a while, we have a family trip where the four of us spend some quality time and really reconnect.
You have a nice tan right now—were you just on one of those getaways?
Thank you! We were in Montenegro—it’s one of my favorite places in the world, and we love to spend our summers there. And I like to play golf; I love playing and watching basketball, spending time in nature—I love to kayak and swim, hike, cycle, run; I’m an outdoor type of person. I like my space to expand—I feel like the modern lifestyle, particularly in the big cities and countries, has closed us up too much indoors with technology—so I long for outdoor activities. It’s like an active form of rest for me. Physically, I like to always be active, even when I am resting between tournaments. But a natural environment also relaxes my brain—my nervous system is happy that, finally, there’s not much stress going on. I must say, though: I would like to do this more than I’m doing at the current moment. Oh—I love to ski, I forgot to say that.
Really?
I grew up on a mountain, my father was a pro skier, my uncle and my aunt skied. So I got to spend quite a bit of time in my childhood on the hill. And for me, even up to this day, the best feeling I can have is going down the slope—that freedom and the mental relaxation, and at the same time the excitement and adrenaline—the feeling is unmatched for me.
Do you have any concern of…injury?
My sponsors, my agents, and my team have more concern than me!
I bet they do.
I trust my own instincts. You never know, of course, but I think you need a little bit of a risk in life to make yourself feel alive.
I love that sentiment. You mentioned your family—tennis fans have basically seen your children grow up over the years as the cameras show your player box. As they get older, though, what’s the most fun part—and maybe what’s the most challenging aspect—of parenthood?
The most fun is the fact that they’re still kids—they always want to play, so they’re super-creative. And then, of course, they’re also challenging you the entire time, pushing the limit and seeing how far they can go to get what they want. There’s always this interaction happening on a daily basis for the smallest things.
Tolerance and patience are some of the things I have been really training myself on with my kids—and learning from them, because they’re so present, and they’re so forgiving. Very rarely are we present in our adult life—it’s always like, What do I have to do now? Always thinking about the past and the future. And we forget, a lot of times, to be playful. Adult life is way too serious.
Adult life is hard, kids or not.
I love spending time with kids because of that. I enjoy that childish, innocent, pure energy. And also, through our foundation work, our mission is to support early childhood development. But I feel like the most important thing that I can say about being a parent is really understanding that, very often, it’s about you—it’s not about them. If you want to be the best for them, and if you want to be the best father or parent that you can be, you need to really focus on being in the right state of mind, and body, and soul in order to give, in order to receive, in order to be tolerant and patient at times and strict at others.
It sounds like that thinking and those values might also be applied to one’s approach to tennis. The challenge of having everything aligned—mind, body, soul—to face shifting and maybe sometimes tough situations?
When there’s pressure at home and you feel like you have to react in a certain way, and when you have to come up with solutions very quickly, there is a certain similarity compared to the court. Tennis is a very dynamic game, decision-making is key, and you have to stay patient even if you lose your calm and lose your cool. You have to come back the very next point in order to stay grounded, in order to stay in the match. So, yeah—it’s similar when you see it from that point of view.
What’s on your to-do list, in a strictly personal way?
I have a bunch of things—I’m curious about so many things in life. I still want to learn to play the saxophone—I really want to learn. Some years ago, I played it all right for a while, but then I regressed, because I didn’t practice enough. You’re reminding me that I have to play more.
You should start a jazz band.
I would love to learn how to sing, how to play instruments. Sax is number one, but then I want to learn others. And I would love to learn how to do theater acting—I love theater.
Really?
Yes. Not necessarily movies, but theater first. I just love the live interaction.
Do you have a favorite play?
Yes, but in our country—you wouldn’t know it. I love comedy. I am trying to pick up certain tips from comic actor friends. I would love to learn how to paint and how to draw, arts and crafts.
With comedy acting in particular, and with your sense of humor—you’re going to get a role somewhere.
Could be fun.
I’d watch it.
With Jim Carrey. That’s the dream. He’s amazing—his facial expressions, his impersonations. I was always into this, because I did impersonations, early on in my career, of other tennis players, which kind of went viral.
[Editor’s note: Google Djokovic’s impersonations of his former coach Boris Becker, Maria Sharapova, or, most recently, a certain hanging-up-the-phone motion that Ben Shelton used to perform but has since retired.]
That’s a lot of creative pursuits.
I’m also passionate about wellbeing, health, recovery, sports science, biotech, fintech, and medtech. I’m very into these things. It’s a very broad field of interests, but a lot of my investments are in these areas and I’m trying to do different partnerships with big brands across them. My team and I are trying to connect all the dots so that we can create a legacy of really strong brands. Ultimately, I would like to expand my brand outside of tennis and outside of philanthropy into business, wellness areas, and more.
Wow.
Yeah. [Laughing.] There’s a lot going on. I think my agent and business advisor is probably overwhelmed with everything on his agenda—only he knows—but it’s exciting times, because in a certain way, it’s kind of also a transition for me.
Tell me more about that.
I’m seeing tennis more as a platform—an extension of my arm to all of these things that I can develop.
Once, or as you’re about to, say goodbye?
As I’m entering whatever last phase this is of my career. And I don’t know how long it’s going to last—I don’t put a limit to it.
Last question, and it’s around the acronym GOAT. We’ve seen some athletes really lean into it. Do you like the term? Do you think it’s silly? Does it even cross your mind?
I think it started to become quite present only five, seven years ago, or something like that. If the GOAT discussion is something that gets people really interested in tennis, I support that. I love that. I’m not going to say what I think about it, though, and who the GOAT is. I’ll leave that to other people to discuss. I don’t think I’m in a position…I don’t think it’s my spot to be discussing that. I have to be respectful of previous generations, and the sport of tennis has evolved so much with technology—even with the racquet itself—so that it’s kind of hard to say. People love to debate how somebody like Björn Borg, or Rod Laver, or John McEnroe would do in this era, or me in any of theirs. We will never know. I’m just honored to be part of that group, honored to call myself a student of the history of tennis and of the game. Even though I’ve seen them many times, it still gives me goosebumps when I meet these guys—these legends—every single time.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.