"It's God himself inside me and on the sky, I'm trying to share that light" - When Novak Djokovic explained his unique celebration at Shanghai Masters
Novak Djokovic once shared the reason behind his unique celebration at the China Open after defeating Kevin Anderson to reach the semifinals. The Serb explained that his celebration was a way of sharing divine energy, saying he was trying to connect with God in the sky and pass that energy on to everyone.
Djokovic's campaign in Shanghai was nothing short of dominant. He kicked off with a convincing win over Jeremy Chardy, followed by a solid third-round victory against Marco Cecchinato.
In the quarterfinals, the 24-time Grand Slam champion faced Anderson, overcoming him 7-6(1), 6-3 to book his place in the last four, where he squared off against Alexander Zverev.
Following his win over Anderson, Novak Djokovic made a distinct hand gesture, looking up towards the sky. When asked about it during the press conference, the 37-year-old said:
"It's God himself (smiling) inside of me and on the sky, as well. So I'm trying to, you know, share that love and that light and divine energy with all the people."
"It's quite a special moment for me to be able to be playing the sport that I love and to be successful in it, and, you know, it has become like a traditional celebration about year and a half or two years ago, and ever since then, whenever I would win the match, I would do that," he added.
He continued:
"It's quite nice to see the reaction of the people to it, and I have received a lot of, you know, nice comments about it. So I'm glad the people feel that."
Novak Djokovic won Shanghai Masters 2018
Novak Djokovic clinched the 2018 Shanghai Masters title with a dominant performance.
He comfortably defeated Alexander Zverev in the semifinals, setting up a final clash against Borna Coric and triumphed over the Croat 6-3, 6-4 to secure the win. Coric had reached the final after an impressive victory over Roger Federer in the last four.
The Serb is the most successful player in the history of the ATP 1000 tournament. He holds the record for the most titles, having lifted the trophy four times, and has reached the final on four occasions. He also boasts the most matches played (39) and won (34), the best winning percentage (88.90%), and the most editions played (12), among other records.