Lawn Tennis superstar, Novak Djokovic was given a hero’s welcome in Belgrade when he returned to his home country after the US Open.
Novak who has won 24 Grand Slam titles and four US Open arrived in his home country with thousands waving flags and cheering as the World No.1, who is now the outright record-holder in Open Era Majors could not believe his sight.
The star was very emotional since he has always been proud of his home country.
“The odds were pretty much against me and my family, but, you know, we did it. I say ‘we,’ because I owe a lot to my family, to my parents who sacrificed so much for me to be here,” he told international media on Sunday.
“It was extremely, extremely difficult with lots of adversities that they had to face and atrocities that when you think about it, the last thing you want to think about is supporting your child in an expensive sport.”
Having grown up at a time when the economic consequences of the war crippled his family, taking up an individual sport as expensive as tennis was never easy.
“One thing is a fact, though – if I wasn’t from Serbia, I’d have been glorified on a sporting level many years ago, especially in the West,” he was quoted as saying by tennismajors.com, translating his Serbian post-US Open press conference.
“But that’s part of my journey, I am grateful and proud to come from Serbia – because of that, all of these accomplishments are sweeter and even more fulfilling.”
