"Novak Djokovic, all things considered, is our reference on and off the court" - Matteo Arnaldi's coach
The 22-year-old Italian sensation Matteo Arnaldi's team is looking to Novak Djokovic as a reference, both on and off the court.
With the World No. 44 having high expectations of himself, his coach Alessandro Petrone is confident that he has to look no further than the 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic to stay down to earth.
In a recent interview with Ubitennis, Petrone hailed his ward as a "complete player" with no obvious weaknesses. Despite having broken into the top 50 for the first time this year, Petrone belives that Arnaldi has a long way to go and is capable of great things.
In that journey, Novak Djokovic has caught the imagination of the Italian player and his coach, thanks to the way he conducts himself on the court and his dedication to the game.
"Matteo is a very complete player, he has no particular gaps or weaknesses. He surely needs to improve a little on the consistency of his backhand, his most natural stroke. His arrival in the top 50 does not give him the impression of having arrived."
"He has very high goals and expectations, which is why he stays down to earth. In fact, Djokovic, all things considered, is our reference on and off the court," Petrone said.
Novak Djokovic on Next Gen players playing their best tennis against him: "They awaken a beast in me"
In a recent interview, Novak Djokovic addressed how he's motivated by the fact that Next Gen players often come out blazing against him, ready to play their very best tennis.
The Serb revealed that he draws his own motivations from them, joking that it awakens a "beast" inside him.
"I don’t know if that sounds good, to be honest. I think the young guys who are very hungry and very inspired to play their best tennis against me is an additional motivation. I think they kind of awaken a beast in me," Djokovic said.
In that vein, the World No. 1 also proclaimed that the loss in the Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz pissed him off so much that he wanted to win everything after that, which he ended up doing.
The 36-year-old went on to win the Cincinnati Masters, the US Open, the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals, securing the year-end No. 1 rank in the process.
"You're right because that pissed me off so much that I needed to win everything on American soil, which I did. It's a great opportunity for me to reinvent myself and really push harder than I ever did," he said.