Novak Djokovic celebrated more than a victory at the Vanda Pharmaceuticals Hellenic Championship on Tuesday evening. The 100-time tour-level titlist also honored the life of influential coach Nikola Pilic, who passed away in September.
Djokovic welcomed friends and coaches from Pilic’s academy – Petar Basic, Lado Chikhladze, Ana Jovanovic, Oliver Poturicek, Peter Shuster and Kostas Zaraklanis – to the court in Athens to commemorate his life in front of a capacity crowd. Djokovic and his brother, tournament director Djordje Djokovic, were moved as a video tribute played on the big screen.
“It was an emotional moment,” Djokovic told ATPtour.com. “Given what he meant to me and my family – privately and professionally – he was my tennis father, as I like to call him, someone who played a fundamental, integral role in my development as a tennis player and as a person. It was truly sad news when I heard that he passed away a few months ago.”
Pilic’s funeral was the first that Djokovic attended. The emotions of that moment remain with him and are a powerful reminder of the impact Pilic had on the Serb and many others.
“It was a very, very difficult moment,” Djokovic said. But on the other hand, the legacy he left to me, but also to this sport, will never fade and never die.
“As long as I play tennis and as long as I live, I will celebrate his name. And tonight was one of the moments to pay tribute and I am sure that in the near future – also in the distant future – people will learn how Niki influenced the world of tennis and the world of sports. He deserves it. He was a very special man.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
#Djokovic #honors #memory #Nikola #Pilic #long #live #celebrate