Novak Djokovic left his fans in awe in a post-match conference at the United Cup in Perth. The World No. 1 shocked the interviewer and his Serbian teammates by speaking fluent Mandarin after Serbia’s victory over China in the tournament.
Novak Djokovic hasn’t just captured 24 Grand Slams but has mastered 11 different languages from all over the world. One such language that many didn’t know was Mandarin. His fans and peers got a first-hand experience of the Serb fluently greeting in Mandarin to his Chinese fans in a United Cup press conference.
In his United Cup debut, the Serbian defeated China’s Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-2 to give Serbia the lead in the tie. China didn’t give up and made a comeback with Zheng Qinwen, who was able to equalize at 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Olga Danilovic. The match was decided by a mixed double match that featured Djokovic and her match partner, Danilovic. Together they scored a 6-4, 1-6, 10-6 victory over Zheng and Zhang.
Djokovic took the opportunity to not only wish New Year’s greetings but also wow the entire press room with his fluent Mandarin.
While the journalist was pleasantly surprised and praised Djokovic’s language skills, his teammate Olga Danilovic looked shell-shocked at the Serbian’s command of the Chinese language.
Novak replied to the journalist’s request by :
“Happy New Year! How are you, thank you for your support, I love you, China, my good friend!” [Translated from Mandarin]
Never underestimate @DjokerNole 🤣#UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/RILX9TPTNr
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) January 1, 2024
Novak can speak comfortably in Serbian, Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Mandarin.
Novak Djokovic interrupts Team China’s United Cup press conference
The Serbian player is certainly enjoying his time playing at the United Cup in Australia. Earlier, he was also spotted crashing The Chinese team’s pre-match press conference.
Novak Djokovic was passing by when he peaked at the ongoing presser and decided to have some fun with the Chinese players and media. The Serbian dropped a ‘Ni Hao’, for the audience at the press conference.
“Ni hao, thank you!”.
The WTA World No. 15, Zheng Qinwen, seemed like the most excited among the bunch, as she waved back at Novak and asked him to stop by so she could have her “Idol’s” autograph.
“Idol!”, she screamed at Novak.
And further added it with :
“Please don’t go, I still haven’t got your signature yet.”
Even though the Chinese team lost to Novak and Serbia, they managed to clinch a spot in the quarter-finals of the competition. Their next match is against Iga Swiatek’s Poland.
The Serbian team also qualified for the Quarterfinals, winning both of their group-stage matches. They will face the home team, Australia, on Wednesday.
