LONDON, GREAT BRITAIN - Novak Djokovic is excited to be competing in his second Olympic Games and ready to go, he says. He thinks Roger Federer is the favourite - but the 2011 Wimbledon champion doesn’t play down his own chances.
"Roger, as recent Wimbledon winner, stands probably the best chance to win gold because of his career, success and history,”
Djokovic, the world No. 2, said at the Serbian team press conference on Thursday. “He is the No.1 favourite and then you have Murray, myself and Tsonga.”
"I have recovered well from Wimbledon and I am very excited to be part of these Games. I am privileged to be alongside the great and best athletes of the world… It's just a different feeling, you can see so many exciting faces around you and you see that everybody has a motivation, everybody is so happy to be here because in a way we are all winners, we have all achieved so much just to be here, and sacrificed."
Djokovic had medal success in his first Olympic appearance in Beijing, taking home the bronze: he lost to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals before beating James Blake in the bronze medal play-off. But a lot has happened for the man from Belgrade in the last four years and another bronze is surely not in his game plan.
"It was certainly a great confidence boost for me after I won a bronze medal at the Beijing Games. It was my first Olympic Games, I was part of the Olympic Village and it was an incredible feeling just to be surrounded with the best athletes in the world, especially from your (own) country, and they were coming to support me," he said.
Djokovic has always said that his extraordinary results in 2011, which included a run of 41 successive match wins, three Grand Slam titles and the year-end No. 1 ranking, were kick-started by the confidence and euphoria he felt after helping Serbia to win its first Davis Cup title at the end of 2010.
Passion for representing his country is a huge part of the Novak psyche and is certain to help him bounce back here and banish the memory of his semifinal loss to Federer at the All England Club three weeks ago. The Swiss subsequently took the No. 1 ranking from Djokovic but the Serbian has the chance to take it back at London 2012 if he outperforms his rival.
“It feels like playing in a team competition in a way for us, everyone is staying together, supporting each other, you are wearing the shirt of your country. Hopefully we can bring a lot of success to Serbia." Djokovic, who is also playing doubles at London 2012 with Victor Troicki, will lead team Serbia into the Olympic Stadium tonight as his country’s flagbearer, but is staying with his tennis teammates closer to the tennis action in Wimbledon.
He is unfazed by the new-look Wimbledon, with its pinker shade of purple. "Well it looks interesting, I was looking forward to see how the colours would affect the Wimbledon tradition and the purple background on the courts looks good,” he said. “There are not many changes, Wimbledon still stays Wimbledon, but it is the Olympic Games so there is a different buzz about it."
