Djokovic has publicly stated that Nadal is his greatest opponent. The Serbian has a deep respect for Nadal and plans to see him off when he retires. However, when Nadal retired, Djokovic was not in attendance.

The reason is simple: he could not arrive. At the time, he and Murray were scheduled to attend Spain's Davis Cup semi-finals, as Nadal's retirement ceremony was scheduled to take place after the semi-finals.

However, Spain failed to beat the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, leaving Nadal's retirement ceremony immediately after the quarter-finals, with neither Djokovic nor Murray able to attend. "I don't know the specifics, I know their plan is to have a retirement ceremony after Spain reach the semi-finals." Djokovic said in an interview with Tennis Majors.

"Murray and I plan to attend. We can't fit the quarter-finals into our itinerary, but the semi-finals are definitely going. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned, so what else can you do? Other than that, I don't really know much about it. ”

In the same interview, Djokovic also spoke about the retirement ceremony itself. The ceremony was relatively simple, with Nadal giving a short speech and a video tribute being played. The Spaniard never wanted a grand retirement ceremony, as he has always been very humble. However, for Djokovic, such an arrangement is not appropriate.

"I watched the video [of the ceremony]. I don't know, it's possible that Rafa himself doesn't want to make it too grand so as not to disturb the other teams and the game...... I can't say well, but I regret that I wasn't able to attend. The Serb said. If I were to judge, the ceremony was not properly arranged. Maybe Rafa himself isn't sure if he'll be able to continue playing, or how long he'll be able to fight, and then it may be too late for a bigger ceremony......," he added.

More particularly, Nadal was honored at the Madrid Open earlier last year, but that time was also relatively low-key. Objectively speaking, there were no major celebrations at Federer and Murray's retirement ceremonies. However, for Djokovic, he may have a bigger send-off, as Serbia's hometown people are likely to hold a big parade in his honor. What the future holds is unknown, as that day is still far away.

Novak Djokovic kicked off his season with a four-set win over Barcelona Valetti in the opening round of this year's Australian Open. After the game, he spoke about his new partnership with Murray. The former world No. 1 caused an uproar in the tennis world when he appointed Murray as his coach in the offseason. Murray has previously hinted at a possible coaching role in the future, but his arrival at Djokovic in his first coaching role is undoubtedly very remarkable.

Djokovic spoke about his partnership with Murray in his post-match press conference. He mentioned that it was a little strange to see Murray in his dugout, especially at the Rod Laver Stadium, where they have played against each other many times over the past decade.

"I trained with him all week before today's game. But you know, the feeling of the official game, Centre Court, the night court is completely different. It's a venue we've played many times in the past...... So it's kind of weird. Still, I enjoyed spending time with him and talking to him about tennis. Learn from him and understand his views on tennis. - Djokovic said in his post-match press conference.

The tennis world is curious about the combination, and people want to know how their collaboration is going. Djokovic also revealed some details, mainly because they exchanged ideas with each other and discussed tennis in depth. They were both former greats of all time, but there were some differences in their style of play and philosophies. "I'll ask him some questions and see how he sees my game. He would also keep asking me how I was feeling and what I was going through. This is still the early stage of our adaptation to each other. Djokovic added.

Their collaboration has started well so far at the Australian Open, but it's still in its early stages. At the moment, Djokovic has just reached the second round and has a long way to go.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Spark)