Novak Djokovic’s resilience teaches that nothing is impossible

“Tennis has made me more resilient and has taught me that nothing is truly impossible. I would need to prepare myself beforehand to give you an accurate answer. But, straight away, yes, I have to say that tennis has definitely made me more resilient in life in general.

Competing at the highest level for 20 years has allowed me to mentally, physically and emotionally tap into parts of myself I never knew existed. I’ve had to really dig deep within myself so many times to overcome challenges and make history through great accomplishments.”

At the end of the match with Aleksandar Vukic in the 2nd round of the BNP Paribas Open 2024, a journalist present at the press conference asked Novak Djokovic what are the most important lessons learned from his experience in tennis.

A question that also applies to everyday life, and which could not find a better subject than Djokovic, who, thanks to his multiple experiences in private and professional life, can truly give an all-around answer. Not everyone goes from playing as a child under a hail of bombs to becoming the most successful tennis player in history.

We know it well, it also applies in life: tennis constantly forces you to deal with your internal fears. Overcoming one’s limits is often the only solution to going beyond the limit and going from a tennis player to a champion.

Djokovic is tempered by resilience

Novak Djokovic has a character tempered and forged by many battles, by friends and by those who criticize him. Always discussed, always under discussion, but everyone must accept that he is the best player in the history of tennis. He is the strongest of all. The numbers and statistics say it. Then, who is the greatest of all time, who is the GOAT all around, is a sentence that we will leave for posterity.

“He also taught me that if you do things the right way, if you dedicate yourself to constant improvement by trying to perfect your skills, yourself as a person and as an athlete, you can reach the stars and beyond. So nothing is truly impossible if, first of everything, you firmly believe in it.

I realized my dreams in 2011 and then I had to invent new dreams and new goals, establish new horizons to reach. I think he also taught me to accept defeats in life and look to the future with optimism.

It’s a very demanding sport, with a very long season, but it always offers you another opportunity, another week in which you can shine and win a trophy,” explained Djokovic.

And how can you remain indifferent to this answer, from ìta from a man who at 37 years old still continues to try to improve himself to write tennis history again?