Novak Djokovic reflected on his past in an emotional moment at the US Open, thanking his parents for their support as he lifted his 24th Grand Slam trophy.

Djokovic has had a hugely successful season, winning both the Australian Open and the French Open to bring his total of major titles up to twenty-three, the same number as Serena Williams. His initial attempt to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 was at Wimbledon. However, he fell at the last hurdle there when he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

Nevertheless, the Serb came back fighting and has looked pretty much unstoppable since defeating Alcaraz in the Cincinnati Open final just a week before the New York major.

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Djokovic thanks parents for their support

Djokovic had a highly successful run at Flushing Meadows, ousting all but one of his opponents in straight sets to set up a clash with 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev in the final. The 36-year-old's success continued there, defeating the Russian 6-3 7-6 (5), 6-3.

After the victory, which saw him win the most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era, Djokovic thanked his parents Srdjan and Dijana and reflected on his past growing up in a war-torn country. 

"The odds were pretty much against me and my family, but, you know, we did it. I say "we," because I owe a lot to my family, to my parents who sacrificed so much for me to be here. And that's not a cliché. I really mean it.

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"It was extremely, extremely difficult with lots of adversities that they had to face and atrocities that when you think about it, you know, the last thing you want to think about is supporting maybe your child in expensive sport," he said.

Djokovic has previously spoken about his experiences witnessing the bombing in war-torn Belgrade, which was at that time part of Yugoslavia. The bombing was done by NATO in an attempt to stop atrocities committed by Yugoslavia's then-president Slobodan Milosevic's troops against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.