Novak Djokovic gave away his French Open-winning racquet to a young boy, whose elation on receiving the racquet knew no bounds. Djokovic said he gifted his racquet to the boy for “giving me the right tactics”. The world number one claimed a 19th Grand Slam title and became the first man in 52 years to win all four majors twice when he came from two sets down to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7 (6/8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. At the end of the four-hour and 11-minute final, the 34-year-old Djokovic handed his racquet to the youngster who was then pictured on TV jumping for joy and in shock at the gesture.
“He was in my ear the entire match basically, especially when I was two sets to love down. He was encouraging me. He was actually giving me tactics, as well,” said Djokovic.
This kid pic.twitter.com/dQMZaEJpWH— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) June 13, 2021
“He was like, ‘Hold your serve, get an easy first ball, then dictate, go to his backhand.’ He was coaching me literally.
“I found that very cute, very nice. So I felt like to give the racquet to the best person was him after the match. That was kind of my gratitude for him sticking with me and supporting me.”
Fans were quick to praise the gesture from the 19-time Grand Slam champion and said the kid would remember this moment forever.
I love that his dad kissed him. — blossom (@blossom51748976) June 13, 2021
What a gift! The kid will never be the same.— Ken Smith (@realkenwsmith) June 14, 2021
I love how the more he celebrates, the more people around him get in on it. Do you think he tucks the racket in at night or just places it on the pillow next to him? — widegrape (@widegrape) June 13, 2021
Omg so beautiful gesture! This kid reaction is priceless — MARTHA ACUÑA (@MARCIAN2003) June 13, 2021
He’ll never be this happy again…awesome— Thomas Clark (@MauiThomas) June 13, 2021
Djokovic is now just one Grand Slam title away from matching the record for the most Grand Slam titles, jointly owned by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - AFP)