Novak Djokovic was arguably one of the Winter Olympics’ most famous spectators, having snatched the opportunity to take in the games after his sensational Australian Open campaign.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has been selective with his schedule for some time now, and after a gruelling and sensational run to the final in Melbourne, he had earned some rest.
So, he and his family headed to Milan.
Djokovic has since shared his thoughts on the Winter Olympics, expressing admiration for the competitors he had the pleasure of watching.
Novak Djokovic explains why he loved the 2026 Winter Olympics
Speaking to Sky Sports, Djokovic was full of praise for the Winter Olympics.
He admitted: “Winter Olympic Games. First time in my life to experience that, obviously been part of the Summer Olympics, but Winter never.
“Figure skating, my daughter is in love with it.
Now we have to look for the ice rink anywhere we are, and it’s fun, honestly, to see world class athletes in winter sports at their crafts, you know, perform at a high level, was just something so impressive to me and as an athlete, obviously, I have always the level of appreciation and respect for what they do.”
Djokovic, who was in California for the Indian Wells event, then touched on taking the opportunity of being in the States to take in a basketball match.
The 38-year-old added: “Speaking of athletes, obviously Lakers, basketball, you know, one of my, if not my favourite sports other than, of course, tennis and racket sports and, you know, always followed Euro League and NBA and of course, Lakers are, you know, Lakers or Lakers, and, you know, any time I’m able to grab a few days in LA before coming to Indian Wells, I try to use it and go to the Laker game.
“Of course, my friend Luka Dončić who is playing for them, one of the two superstars, of course, the other one is LeBron, it was so exciting to see them perform live. They killed it, they had an incredible game, and then, you know, we had some nice time afterwards to talk and socialise.”
How Ilia Malinin reacted to being watched by Novak Djokovic
As Djokovic mentions, the figure skating seems to be a new favourite in his household.
That was likely aided by watching American superstar Ilia Malinin live, putting in a sensational performance.
Videos of the Serbian’s reaction to Malinin, most notably his backflip, went viral. He stood, jaw dropped and hands on his head, completely in disbelief at what he had watched.
Then, speaking after he won gold, the figure skater admitted: “I did see Djokovic, it’s so unreal.
“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.”
