Novak Djokovic who financially helped the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals winner Hamad Medjedovic received huge praise from Stan Wawrinka’s coach Norman.
20-year-old Medjedovic defeated top seed Arthur Fils in the finals of the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Medjedovic started the match on a positive note by winning the first set. Fils bounced back to win the next two sets. Medjedovic however won the next two sets to seal the victory and win the title.
The Next Gen ATP Finals is the year-end tournament for the best under-21 players of the season. Hamad became the sixth champion of the tournament since it started in 2017. He joined the top 10 players like Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Jannik Sinner to have won this tournament.
With Hamad Medjedovic winning the tournament, it meant a clean sweep for Serbia at the ATP year-end events after Novak Djokovic won the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin a few weeks ago.
But, Medjedovic’s success wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Novak Djokovic who has helped him financially over the years.
Swiss tennis player Stan Wawrinka’s coach Magnus Norman recently came to know about Djokovic’s kind gesture and was all praise for him in a post on X.
“In a year very much filled with aggression, hate and violence in this world this is wonderful to read. An act of kindness and giving back without wanting publicity or PR. Well done @DjokerNole”
– Magnus Norman on X
Read 👇🏼In a year very much filled with aggression, hate and violence in this world 😢 this is wonderful to read. An act of kindness and giving back without wanting publicity or PR. Well done @DjokerNole 👏🏼 https://t.co/54gBXiGtWh
— Magnus Norman (@normansweden) December 3, 2023
Norman began training Wawrinka between 2013 and 2017. During his tenure, Wawrinka won three Grand Slams at the 2014 Australia Open, the 2015 French Open, and the 2016 US Open.
Holger Rune admits that Novak Djokovic’s ‘extremely high standard’ will help the young players to raise their game
Holger Rune was recently mentioned as one of the ‘Big Three’ of this generation who can possibly take over the original ‘Big Three’ of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer.
In a recent interview, Rune admitted that Djokovic is still the man to beat, and happy to be learning from the Serbian.
Roger Federer retired in 2022 and Rafael Nadal has been out of action due to injury, which has made it easier for Djokovic to stay at the top.
36-year-old Novak Djokovic is still dominating the tennis court winning three out of four Grand Slams. Rune believes that Djokovic will continue to play until they start beating him.
When asked about if it is time for the young generation to take over the Big Three, he responded:
“Yeah, I totally agree. I have to agree and I do agree. But, the fact is Novak is still winning three out of four Grand Slams a year. So we cannot say he is gone because we need to beat like not just one time but like every time. I will try to beat him because if he keeps winning these big tournaments, why would he stop?……If you never experience Roger, Rafa or Novak, I think we would miss something and I think Novak is like extremely high standards and I think for us so close to see that is very helpful.”
-Holger Rune in an interview
