WATCH: Novak Djokovic interacts with fans & hands out gifts in first training session ahead of Serbia's Davis Cup encounter with Greece
Novak Djokovic is back in training ahead of Serbia's Davis Cup clash against Greece. During his training session, the Serb interacted with fans and handed out gifts as well.
Djokovic's US Open title defense was thwarted in the third round by a resilient Alexei Popyrin. On the bright side, it gave the 37-year-old ample time to recover and prepare for his country's crucial Davis Cup tie against Greece.
He was recently spotted training with his national team for the first time. Watch the 24-time Grand Slam winner take time to meet his fans during training:
Greece and Serbia are set to battle it out at the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall, Belgrade, Serbia (hard, indoors) on 14-15 September 2024. The winner will book a berth in the qualifying round for the Davis Cup 2025.
Novak Djokovic to play, Stefanos Tsitsipas out injured for Serbia vs Greece Davis Cup clash
In February, a Serbian team, missing Novak Djokovic, suffered a crushing 0-4 defeat to Slovakia, who advanced to the World Groups currently in play. As a result, Serbia now finds themselves competing in World Group 1, a lower division of the Davis Cup.
Meanwhile, Greece was promoted to the Davis Cup World Group 1 after the resounding 4-0 win over Romania in February.
With several players within the Top 100 rankings, Serbia is top-seeded in the World Group 1 and Greece is unseeded. The nations will take on each other in Serbia's home ground. Greece, however, will face a huge disadvantage as their only Top 500 player, Stefanos Tsitsipas (World No. 11) is out injured.
He took to his social media early in September to announce his withdrawal from the event.
“Dear friends and supporters of the National Tennis Team. The voice of my heart advised me to strengthen the National Team once again. However, the voice of my body, in an imperative manner, forbids me to compete in the meeting with Serbia for the Davis Cup,” he said in a statement.
“It is with great regret that I announce my decision not to compete next week in Belgrade. I keep the moments we experienced last February in Ano Liosia. Then, drawing strength from the Greek fans who were in the stands, we defeated Romania and celebrated together a great success in World Group I of the Davis Cup.”
Serbia's team includes Djokovic (World No. 4), Miomir Kecmanovic (World No. 53), Dusan Lajovic, (World No. 65), and Hamad Medjedovic (World No. 136). Their team captain is Viktor Troicki.
Meanwhile, Greece's team, who are all ranked out of the Top 500 in singles, includes Aristotelis Thanos, Ioannis Xilas, and Petros Tsitsipas. Thye are captained by Dimitris Chatzinikolaou