Novak Djokovic gets real on Grigor Dimitrov, Juan Martin del Potro’s exho invitations

Novak Djokovic says he made a promise long ago to Grigor Dimitrov that he would return the favor and come play an exhibition match in Bulgaria, while he has nothing but a great level of appreciation and respect for Juan Martin del Potro so accepting the Argentine’s offer was a no-brainer.

During this past weekend, the record 24-time Grand Slam champion took part in a Davis Cup tie against Greece and made his first home appearance in the competition since 2017. And it was a successful weekend for the Serbian team as their best player demolished Ioannis Xilas 6-0 6-1 in his lone match played and brought one win in a 3-1 triumph over Greece.

Now, the 37-year-old is set to be back in action on Tuesday – and he won’t be making a long trip from Serbia – since he is set to clash against Dimitrov in Sofia.

Four years ago during the pandemic while the Tour was suspended, the Serbian tennis superstar organized an exhibition event called “the Adria Tour” and it was mostly consisting of players coming from the Balkans regions. One of the players who was the first to accept his invite was Dimitrov and the current world No. 4 didn’t hide at the time that he was very appreciative of everyone who made sure his dream of organizing such an event became possible.

After taking on the Bulgarian tennis star in an arena that has already sold out 11,000 tickets, Djokovic will have another exhibition tournament on his schedule in 2024 as he is slated to meet del Potro in Buenos Aires on December 1st.

Regarding the Sofia exhibition, all the money collected will go to the Grigor Dimitrov Foundation and will be used to support the underprivileged children in his country. On the other side, the Buenos Aires exho will see the former Argentine tennis star fulfilling his goal of taking on the Serb in his farewell match in his home country.

Djokovic on why he accepted Dimitrov and del Potro’s invitations

After concluding his Davis Cup duties, the former world No. 1 was asked if there was something specific that made him accept the offers that came his way.

“Well, it’s mostly because of the guys that l’m playing with. With Grigor, he came to Serbia to play in the Adria Tour exhibition a few years ago, and then we agreed that I’m going to play with him in Bulgaria when the time arrives and it’s suitable for both of us. So, now is the time, and I look forward to it. I never played in Bulgaria, and we are obviously culturally very similar nations and people. So, that’s going to be fun,” the Serbian tennis superstar told Ana Mitric.

“And del Potro is retiring from tennis with this exhibition match. We all know the impact that he has left on tennis in general. He has been one of the most exciting players to watch in the last two decades. [Plus,] the charisma, the character-very lovable guy, very likable guy. We’ve seen so much support [for him] around the world, and particularly in his home country, Argentina. So, that should be a great event. It should be a phenomenal experience to play there and be part of this farewell match.”

How Djokovic and del Potro announced their exhibition?

Last week, the 2009 US Open champion posted a video on social media, in which he can be seen telling the Serb about his wish and asking if he was interested in fulfilling it.

“I have a dream. I want to play my last match in Argentina and I want you to come.” he asked, to which the record 24-time Major winner responded “Are you kidding me? Obviously I’m coming. For you, in Argentina, of course.”

The current world No. 4 then mentioned his 2018 US Open win over the Argentinian former world No. 3: “My greatest success ever was beating Juan Martin del Potro in the final of US Open in 2018. The response to that was: My biggest success was beating you in Rio (2016 Olympics). And in London (2012 Olympics)!

The 37-year-old then jokingly remarked: Delpo is my nemesis at the Olympic Games. He’s been my slayer.”

Meanwhile, the Argentine beat the Serb in the 2012 London Olympics bronze medal match and also ended on the winning side when they met in the 2016 RIo Olympics first round.

After failing multiple times to become an Olympic champion, Djokovic finally achieved one of his biggest goals at this past Paris Olympics. And his former rival cried tears of joy over that.

“He made me cry the other day when he won the gold medal. It was the first tennis match that I cried,” del Potro said of the Serb’s Paris triumph.