"I saw it in Novak Djokovic's eyes that he was ready to risk everything to be the best" - Andreea Prisacariu
ATP
World No.1 Novak Djokovic is often mentioned in the GOAT conversation, and Romanian tennis player Andreea Prisacariu believes the Serbian possessed the abilities found in the other two members of the Big 3, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
In a recent podcast, Prisacariu revealed she had been watching Djokovic since her childhood and stated the 24-time Grand Slam champion displayed the elegance of Federer and hard-working nature of Nadal.
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Djokovic had combined aspects of Federer and Nadal according to Prisacariu
"It was always him [Djokovic] since I was a little child and it was also him when he was No. 3 in the world you know, after the big guys in that time," she said on the Novak Weekly Podcast. "Only because he was having the elegance of Federer and hard work of Nadal combined. So I think he had both sides. Because Nadal was a hard worker and Federer was pure talent, but Novak had everything.
"I also saw myself in that as a person because I never could be just one thing. So, when I saw another human being who’s successful and free in the way he speaks and the way he does things… I said 'Ok, this could be my role model for sure."
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Additionally, the World No.322 stated she sometimes looked to Djokovic for inspiration during difficult moments in her matches and even life in general.
"You know, in my imagination, when times were tough on court or even in real life, I was listening to him, the way he was speaking in interviews or the way he was playing. Because I wanted to be on the right path also mentally and also in my tennis life."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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