Rising star Hamad Medjedovic expressed his opinion that Novak Djokovic will be the top favorite at Wimbledon. The 20-year-old Serbian praised his compatriot and described his ability to recover from injuries as 'insane'.
Although it's not 100% confirmed, everything indicates that Djokovic will be part of the main draw at the All England Club despite his recent knee injury. The 7-times champion underwent surgery just three weeks ago, and although he initially seemed ruled out of the tournament, Nole is at SW19 and has been training with several colleagues as he prepares to debut.
The champion of the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals is struggling this season to display the level of tennis he showed last year when he won his first ATP title, in addition to 4 Challengers throughout the year. Since the beginning of his career, Medjedovic has been close to Djokovic, regularly participating in training sessions with him and even receiving significant financial support from his compatriot.
Last year, Medjedovic revealed that Djokovic had been instrumental in his development as a tennis player: "Novak Djokovic has been helping me out financially. Giving me whatever I need for my career. He covered it all. He just helped me out when I needed it and [is] still helping me out in all types of ways. I’m glad he’s there for me,” he explained last year.
Currently ranked world No. 127, he was defeated in the second round of Wimbledon qualifying, so he will not be in the main draw. Medjedovic responded in an interview with Clay and revealed that he spoke with Djokovic to learn about his situation after the knee surgery undergone by the 24-times Grand Slam champion.
“We’ve talked after his surgery,” Medjedovic explained. “I was checking on him. He wants to play. Most likely he’s fit since he came here. I really wish him to be healthy and fit. I hope that we get to see him play this year at Wimbledon."
“This (Djokovic’s ability to recover) is out of this world. I think Novak is just something else. The way his body heals is insane. He had a surgery two or three weeks ago. Now he’s here practising. He’s from another planet,” Medjedovic added about the world No. 2. “If he’s fit and healthy, which I believe he is, because he came here, he is, in my opinion, the biggest favourite to be the champion,”
Medjedovic also commented on Djokovic's influence on the popularity of tennis in Serbia: “We have a big population in Serbia that has been playing tennis for years now,” the 20-year-old tennis player stated. “It’s not so weird since we have Novak, the greatest tennis player of all time, the best sportsman in the world. In my opinion, the best ever."
“We have so many other good players that are playing right now and ex-players. I think Serbians like to play tennis. They enjoy the sport. We have pretty much success in it.”
2021 - Novak Djokovic starts providing Serbian rising star Hamad Medjedovic with financial support (coaches, plane tickets, hotels...), a training base in the Novak Tennis Center, and guidance 2023 - Medjedovic wins the Next Gen ATP Finals along with a $514,000 prize money check
