“I feel bad that I wasn’t there” – Djokovic on Nadal’s retirement ceremony, Pikachu bag at the Australian Open
Novak Djokovic explains what went wrong with Nadal’s retirement ceremony, and why he has a Pikachu bag at the Australian Open in Melbourne
Novak Djokovic, Australian Open 2024 – © Zuma / Psnewz
Novak Djokovic was supposed to be present at Rafael Nadal’s farewell, but Spain’s defeat to Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarter-finals caught everyone by surprise, including the organisers in Malaga.
It’s been talked a lot about how the farewell ceremony wasn’t worthy of one of the greatest players of all time, and Djokovic agreed that it could’ve been done better.
“I don’t know the exact details as to how they envisioned the ceremony, but I know that the plan was to do it after the semis, if Spain were to go through. Murray and I planned to be there, we couldn’t fit the quarter-finals in our schedule, but we were a sure thing for the semis.
“Unfortunately, it turned out the way it did, what are you gonna do? More than that, I don’t really know,” said Djokovic, speaking to Serbian press before adding:
“I saw the video (of the ceremony). I don’t know, I don’t know if Rafa maybe didn’t want to make too much of a fuss about it in order not to bother other teams, matches… I don’t know, to be honest, but I feel bad that I wasn’t there.”
Djokovic said that he’s glad that he got to share the court with Rafa in the Spaniard’s last year on Tour.
“We were together on the court in Riyadh, that was the moment, a nice moment. I saw him play at Roland-Garros, we played each other at the Olympics… The ceremony, if you want my opinion, wasn’t done properly. Maybe Rafa himself wasn’t sure whether he’ll play or not, if he can play some more, and then maybe it was too late to do something bigger. I don’t know, really, maybe…”
Djokovic explains Pikachu bag at Australian Open
Serbian journalists were also curious about the bag Djokovic came to Australia with. It had a picture of Pikachu. Those familiar with the Pokemon world know that Pikachu’s number in Pokedex is 25. Symbolic, as Djokovic is chasing his 25th Grand Slam title.
In 2023, Djokovic tapped his index finger 22 times on his head following his win over Sebastian Korda in the Adelaide finals, and then went on to win his 22nd major in Melbourne.
“Yes, I find it interesting and amusing, I had a lot of fun with it. Honestly, I haven’t done it intentionally. Whether the Lord did it intentionally, like it happened with those 22 times in Adelaide… I didn’t do that intentionally either, at least not on a conscious level, probably I did on some unconscious level. Whatever the symbolics, I hope it happens (25th Slam).”
Djokovic is due to play Jaime Faria, a qualifier from Portugal, in the second round on Wednesday.
