Djokovic waxes lyrical on ‘humble’ Messi as he hopes to emulate impact

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Novak Djokovic has hailed Lionel Messi after witnessing Argentina’s World Cup victory from the stands in Qatar. The 21-time Grand Slam champion waxed lyrical about the PSG star’s “humble” nature and explained how he wanted to have the same influence over his own fans while praising Messi for setting an example.

Djokovic was one of many stars in attendance at the World Cup final on Sunday, watching Argentina beat France on penalties to allow Messi to lift the trophy for the first time in his glittering career. The world No 5 was stopping over on his way to Dubai, where he is competing in this week’s inaugural World Tennis League, and he has now discussed his time at the World Cup.

“It was great, it was a spectacular final,” the 35-year-old said on Wednesday while watching Falcons team-mate Paula Badosa take on the Eagles’ Carolina Garcia. “I was really fortunate to be there, present. It was by many people the best World Cup finals ever, I mean what a stunning finish.”

The Serb was one of many who was happy to see Messi lift the trophy that had evaded him in his international career, adding: “And the way they won it and the way they were welcomed at home – we all saw the photos and the videos of Messi’s reception and Argentinian team. It was spectacular, honestly I enjoyed it so much.”

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After his glowing review of the final, Djokovic was also full of kind words for Messi as he shared his hopes of emulating the 35-year-old’s influence over young fans. “I want to believe that people – especially children and young people – really identify with me,” the 91-time title winner confessed.

“I try to have that always as awareness in everything I do, wherever I go, everything I say knowing there’s a following from my country and also worldwide – tennis is a very global sport – so I try to be a good example, I try to lead by example not just on the court but off the court as well.”

Going back to Messi’s impact, the 21-time Grand Slam champion said: “As a sports fan, as a football fan of course I admire Messi. I respect him a lot and I think most of the world is happy with his achievement and what he has managed to do.” But Djokovic was arguably even more impressed with the Argentine’s character as he explained the “privilege” of being an athlete and role model.

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“And him being humble and a down to earth guy and not taken away by success all these years is something that I feel serves as a great example to all the children that look up to him and want to be like him, so we as athletes have good privilege to be able to have the platform and have that voice I guess,” he explained. “Sport is followed by billions of people around the world and sports speaks a universal language, it crushes all the borders I guess, and it’s wonderful to see that people are coming together and uniting with sport.

“Football of course is by far the most popular sport on the planet but tennis being right there, top five most popular sports in the world. We’re just honoured, we’re privileged to have that position and hopefully as I said, I hope many kids will grab a tennis racket because of watching me or other tennis players.”

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