Frane Kojic jokes he qualified for Olympics just to take a picture with Novak Djokovic, says the Serb has posed for "5,000 photos"
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic seems to be enjoying every second of his time at the Tokyo Olympics. The Serb, who is bidding to win his first gold medal at the quadrennial event, has been the center of attraction in the Olympic Village, where a whole host of athletes have lined up to take pictures with him.
Djokovic created history when he won Roland Garros a month ago, becoming the first player in the Open Era to have lifted every Major twice. The Serb followed that up by clinching his 20th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, thus equalling Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's all-time tally.
Given Djokovic's status as a global icon, it comes as no surprise that athletes at the Olympics are awestruck by the Serb. One player fortunate enough to have taken a picture with Djokovic is Frane Kojic, who is representing Croatia in table tennis at the Games.
Speaking to Sporstke Novosti, Kojic revealed how he ran into Djokovic at the Olympic Village. The Croat disclosed how he jokingly told the Serb that the only reason he qualified for the Games was to take a selfie with him.
According to Kojic, Djokovic has probably taken around 5,000 pictures with various poeple at the Olympics.
"I managed to take a pic with Novak. There is an unseen amount of people around him, he took probably 5,000 photos," Kojic said. "I approached him and said, 'Novak can I have a pic with you, that's the only reason why I qualified for the Olympics'."
"He laughed and said, 'Of course!'" Kojic added.
Apart from Kojic, Venezuela's Antonio Diaz (Karate), Belgium's Nina Derwael (Gymnastics), Turkey's Victoria Gunes (Swimming), India's Sai Praneeth and Chiraf Shetty (Badminton), Serbia's Tijana Bogdanovic (Taekwondo) and India's Ankita Raina (Tennis) are some of the other athletes who have managed to take a picture with Djokovic.
Derwael recently shared a photo on Instagram of herself doing the splits with Djokovic.
"When @djokernole asks for a picture, you can’t refuse," she jokingly captioned the post.
Meanwhile, Iranian basketballer Amir Arsalan revealed he missed a golden opportunity to take a selfie with Djokovic.
"I can’t believe I missed @DjokerNole last night he was chilling down by their complex (less than 10 meters away) same place tonight maybe? I need that photo please," he wrote on Twitter.
Novak Djokovic to open Tokyo campaign against Bolivia's Hugo Dellien
Novak Djokovic will open his campaign at the Tokyo Olympics against Bolivia's Hugo Dellien on Saturday. The Serb, who won the bronze medal at the 2008 Games, is the overwhelming favorite to take home the gold in Tokyo.
If he does manage to win the gold, he will only be a US Open title away from completing the Calendar Golden Slam.