"What were you thinking about?"- Novak Djokovic reveals his mother's reaction to seeing his colored hair at Australian Open 2005
Novak Djokovic recently recalled coloring his hair at the 2005 Australian Open, something about which his mother Dijana had expressed total disapproval at the time.
Djokovic was 17 years old when he made his debut Grand Slam appearance at the Melbourne Major in 2005. The then-teenager visited a hair salon ahead of his first-round encounter against Marat Safin. He decided to mark his maiden Grand Slam appearance by partly coloring his hair, as per the hairdresser's recommendation.
In a recent interview with GQ, the former World No. 1 harked back on the incident.
"It was 2005 in Australia, I was 17 and playing Marat Safin on the centre court. It was a night match so earlier in the day I went to a hair salon because my hair was too long. I told the hairdresser that it was my first match, so she made the recommendation of doing something special to mark the occasion. I was up for it so we just coloured the front part slightly so it kind of faded on the side," he said.
After Djokovic's mother disapproved of the hair color, the Serb told her that he was young and that he wanted to do something special on the occasion.
"My mom called me afterwards and was like, 'What were you thinking about?' I was like, 'Hey, I'm young, I just wanted to do something'," the Serb continued.
While the 23-time Grand Slam champion has never messed with his hair since then, he doesn't rule it out if his daughter, Tara, decided to do his hair differently in the future.
"What if my daughter wants me to paint my nails and do my hair differently? You never know," the 36-year-old added.
Novak Djokovic ecstatic about continuing his unbeaten run at Wimbledon Centre Court
Novak Djokovic is eyeing a record-equalling (with Roger Federer) eighth men's title at Wimbledon this year. He got off to a perfect start on Monday, July 3, when he beat Pedro Cachin 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4) in the first round.
The Serb hasn't lost a match at the Centre Court since 2013. Reflecting on the unbeaten run, Djokovic expressed his delight at coming to Wimbledon every time, a venue that he calls his "second home."
"What a second home to have. It doesn't get much better than Wimbledon in terms of history and tradition. I have said it many times throughout my career that coming to Wimbledon was always the dream, to win it," he said during the on-court interview after the win.
Novak Djokovic will next face Jordan Thompson in the second round on Wednesday, July 5. This will be their first meeting on the tour.