WATCH: Novak Djokovic tries his hand at football during time in Qatar, promises to have his revenge after getting nutmegged
Novak Djokovic jokingly called out social sports community platform 433's host Metecan Kanbur for "cheating" against him during their friendly one-on-one game in football.
The Serb was present at the FIFA World Cup final in Qatar to watch Argentina take on France. The Turkish host recently posted a video on his social media, where he was spotted displaying his skills against the former World No. 1 after meeting him during his time in Doha.
Kanbur was able to nutmeg the 21-time Grand Slam champion after sending him the wrong way. While at the time it looked like a fair win, Djokovic replied to 433's post on Instagram and revealed that Kanbur forgot a "very important" detail in the challenge.
"@metecankanbur You cheated man! You didn’t have your hands in the pockets as we agreed 😂🤣 Nevertheless, awesome skill. I will get you next time," said the Serb.
Kanbur accepted Djokovic's claim and offered a rematch, only in football though and not in tennis.
"You’re right I forgot about the hands 🤣 Always down for a rematch… Just not on the tennis court," replied Kanbur.
"There will be pressure from the media, but he has dealt with it very well" -Todd Woodbridge on Novak Djokovic
Australian tennis legend Todd Woodbridge recently opined that nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic will be under a lot of pressure from the media at the upcoming edition of the Melbourne Major, but that he expects the Serb to deal with it well.
"Good news is that he will be playing at the Adelaide International so he will be in Australia for a few weeks before the Open starts. That will give him time to get all the stress and tension of last year out.
"There will be pressure from the media, but he has dealt with it very well. He is coming back to a country he loves playing in. He has won the Open nine times. He loves the surface, the atmosphere. I think he will be very driven to win here," the Aussie said.
"Because he was not allowed to play here last time, that will be added motivation. Also Rafa (Nadal) won when Novak was not allowed to play. That too will be on his mind when he tries to reach the record of most number of grand slams won," he said.
The Serb is confirmed to compete at the first Grand Slam of the 2023 season after his deportation in 2022, where he will be the fifth seed this time around.