Tennis ace Novak Djokovic gets up close and personal with the dolphins in Atlantis
Defending Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title holder Novak Djokovic can now add Blade, Cathy, Sol, Alice and Abby to his fan base.
Only thing is, these guys may have trouble following his games from their giant pool at Dolphin Bay, Atlantis.
The two-time Dubai champion took a dip in the lagoon to meet the friendly pod along with his girlfriend, Jelena Ristic, and his 19-year-old brother Marko, with whom he will contest the doubles title in Dubai this week.
Once in their wetsuits the trio waded into the slightly chilly waters to get up close and personal with the dolphins.
Full of questions, it was Ristic who held back. "And you're sure they won't bite?" she checked and double checked several times with the trainers. "If one comes to me with its mouth open, what should I do?" she added. Having been completely reassured she eventually waded into the clear waters and took position between the brothers.
It didn't take long for her to calm down. The trio hugged and kissed the gentle mammals who then played games and performed jumps against the backdrop of the Atlantis.
The world No 3 was intrigued by every move the dolphins made and said although he had swum with dolphins once before in Miami it was nothing like this.
‘Incredible'
"I cannot believe how long we have met them for," he said from the water's edge. "It's my second time with dolphins but this is incredible. I am so happy I got to share this with my girlfriend and brother. Now, I don't have to tell them about it on the phone, we can share this together."
Once the initial photos of the Serbian tennis star were taken, it was across to another lagoon for the interaction to really begin. Djokovic didn't want to miss a thing and had his agent from the ATP, the men's tour organisers, record his experience on a hand-held video camera. "This is something I want to remember," he said. "This has been an amazing experience. The dolphins are such friendly creatures and it's fantastic to be able to get this close and swim with them," he said as Sol kissed him on the cheek.
Djokovic was due to face Michael Llodra of France in his opening match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships yesterday.
"I love playing here in Dubai and I am really looking forward to defending my title here again," he said.
Djokovic ended his experience with a quick dance with Cathy and joked he'd found a new girl. Gorgeous Ristic, who didn't look too worried, was more interested about finding out everything there was to know to about the anatomy of the mammal.
"We even saw it go to the toilet," she said looking very proud of herself. "The whole thing has been such a wonderful experience. I will never forget it."
‘Comparison of the feeling'
Proving it must be love Djokovic didn't think twice during a television interview straight after his first round match at last year's US Open. In fact, he didn't think at all when he compared playing in the shade to sleeping with his girlfriend of five years, Jelena Ristic. Djokovic went down two sets to one against fellow Serb Viktor Troicki and all seemed lost in the 42.78° C heat. But the Serb rallied when the sun dipped below the stadium providing some shade."I don't know why I said it," he told a press conference later. "He asked me for the comparison of the feeling. The sun came down and I didn't have any more heat, what kind of feeling was it. It just came up to me. It's one of the best feelings, I guess, when you're sleeping with your close one. So I compared it to that."
Funny man
Nicknamed the Djoker, Djokovic is known for his humorous off-court impersonations of fellow players. At the 2007 US Open he entertained the audience with impersonations of Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova.In 2009 the fun continued when he did an impression of American tennis great John McEnroe, before playing a brief game with the tennis legend, much to the delight of the audience.
Don't miss it!
Tickets to today's matches are available at the stadium's box office. For more information about the tournament, visitdubaidutyfreetennis-championships.com or call 04-3589797.
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