After 'Gladiator' Praise, Novak Djokovic Opens Up About 'Texting' Virat Kohli: "Never Got..."
"Virat Kohli and I have been texting a little bit for a few years, and we never got the chance to meet in person," said Djokovic, speaking to Sony Sports.
"It was really a privilege and an honor to listen to him speak nicely about me. And I obviously admire all of his career and achievements and everything he has done," Djokovic added.
"It was business as usual from the gladiator," Kohli had posted on Instagram, referring to Djokovic.
Djokovic also stated that he had tried his hand at cricket, but did not quite enjoy the same success as he has with tennis.
"I started to play cricket. I'm not very good at it. Obviously cricket being a very big, big sport in Australia and of course India, let's say that I'll have a task to perfect my cricket skills before I get to India so that I don't embarrass myself when I'm there," Djokovic said.
Novak Djokovic vs Alex di Minaur: As it happened
Djokovic brushed away a slow start and overwhelmed Alex de Minaur to storm into the quarter-finals for the 16th time at Wimbledon on Monday.
After enduring a setback in the opening set, Djokovic recovered and booked his berth in the final eight with 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in a contest that lasted for three hours and nineteen minutes. Last year, De Minaur had to withdraw before his quarter-final clash against Djokovic at SW19 due to a hip injury he sustained in his fourth-round win against Arthur Fils.
De Minaur had dropped just one set en route to the Round of 16, but his run ended on a frustrating note. He steamrolled past Djokovic in the opening set, but the 26-year-old couldn't convert the break-point opportunities to turn around his fate. The limited errors from Djokovic kept things in his favour in the second and third sets. In the fourth set, he rallied from 1-4 to earn a spot in the quarter-finals.
If Djokovic wins Wimbledon, the 38-year-old will go level with Roger Federer's tally of eight titles on the grass-court major.
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