"Even now I’m afraid of loud, sudden noises": Djokovic recalls attack on Belgrade and lasting effects

Novak Djokovic rarely speaks about his experiences during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia which happened when he was a child but he did briefly discuss it recently.

Djokovic was fairly young when Nato bombed then-Yugoslavia in response to atrocities committed by the Serbian side on what today is the territory of an independent country called Kosovo during the Serbian - Albanian conflict. Djokovic remembers it well and while he hesitates to talk about it often, he doesn't mince his word when it comes to that topic. In a recent interview, he discusses how the bombing left a lasting effect on him:

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“I looked up at the sky & saw two F-117s. They fired 2 rockets at a military hospital, which exploded 500 m from us. Everything was shaking… It was a trauma, even now I’m afraid of loud, sudden noises, even a fire alarm makes me jump”