Novak Djokovic on whether his daughter Tara plays tennis: "Sometimes she wants to play, sometimes she's really not interested"
Novak Djokovic continued his winning streak on Thursday as he advanced to the Paris Masters quarterfinals with a dominant 6-4, 6-1 win against Karen Khachanov in one hour and 27 minutes. He has now won 11 consecutive matches, including two titles in Israel and Kazakhstan.
Hitting 17 winners and converting four breakpoints, the Serb improved his head-to-head record against the Russian to 8-1. The only time Khachanov beat Djokovic was in the final of the 2018 Paris Masters. After his second-round win a couple of days ago, the 21-time Grand Slam champion spoke about his son Stefan and his involvement in tennis.
Yesterday, the 35-year-old was asked in a post-match press conference if his five-year-old daughter Tara was keen to learn tennis. The iconic player revealed that although she was more interested in ballet, she sometimes liked to play tennis as well.
"My daughter started playing a few times a week with her friends from school and from ballet dancing," Djokovic said. "She's more into ballet, and she's a real girl, and I love that about her. She's kind of flashy with tennis. You know, sometimes she wants to play; sometimes she's really not interested. So of course both of them have full freedom to enjoy and to choose what they want to do."
The Serb further spoke about the different roles he and his wife Jelena had taken up as far as the kids were concerned. He stated that Jelena was taking care of the academic part while he looked after Stefan and Tara's physical activities.
"I think it's important for them to be active. I mean, from my point of view, mom is more responsible for the intellectual side and books and taking care of their brain. I'm more responsible for the movement and for their physical development that is affecting, of course, everything else. I'm just glad to see them being active and being outdoors. For me, that's the key," he added.
Novak Djokovic to face Lorenzo Musetti in Paris Masters QF
Seventh-ranked Novak Djokovic and 23rd-ranked Lorenzo Musetti will meet each other for the third time on the tour to fight for a spot in the semifinals of the Paris Masters. The Serb leads the Italian 2-0 in their head-to-head so far. Musetti won his first two singles titles this year in Naples and Hamburg.
After his match yesterday, the sixth seed praised the 20-year-old, saying that he had improved significantly and was looking forward to the match.
"He’s definitely a much-improved player on hard courts. He has had some big wins this week, his first title a few weeks ago on hard courts. He’s so talented, he’s got everything in his game. He can play in the court, he can defend well, he’s got great movement, but I know his game well and I’m looking forward to a good challenge," Djokovic said.