The first racket of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Damir Džumhur, spoke out for the first time because of the “controversial” jersey he wore again in Banja Luka, where he qualified for the quarterfinals of the Banjaluka Open challenger.
Source: MONDO/Nebojša Šatara
The tennis player from Sarajevo was better in two sets than the Croatian representative Duja Ajduković (6:2, 7:5), although it seemed at the end of the second set that the young man from Split would manage to win the third set. However, Damir played more calmly and, with the support of the Banja Luka audience, managed to secure a place among the top eight.
“I knew it would be a tough match, last week Duje won the challenger in Germany, the first in his career, and he certainly had a lot of confidence. This match went similarly, he felt he had confidence, but I would say, finally, I have experience won this match”, Dzumhur said.
Although experience means a lot in any sport, for Damir, age is not important, but a sense of self-confidence.
“No matter how much experience is talked about, I don’t think it has anything to do with it. If you have enough self-confidence, experience comes by itself even at the age of 22, 23, and not only at 30. Today I gained experience, I smartly raised the end the match, although in the second part of the second set the opponent was better and more dominant. I managed to get the best out of myself and break the match. This year I lost at least 10 matches like this, they broke to the side of the rival, so this victory means a lot to me in terms of self-confidence and energy. The first set went my way, the second set didn’t, but I managed to mentally pull it out,” he added Sarajlija and thanked the people of Banja Luka for their support.
“The audience was really phenomenal, they cheered me on the whole match and it certainly helped. I’m going towards the end, I’m glad that after a long time and the result crisis I had I’m back in the quarter-finals of a tournament. I’m glad that I’m making this result at this field, somehow this is my field”, emphasized the first racket of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which on Friday will fight again with the Croat – Dino Prižmić, winner of Roland Garros in the junior competition, for a place in the semi-finals.
“Tomorrow I play against a player who is extremely physically fit, it will be very difficult. He is young and plays phenomenally and is one of the upcoming hopes, not only of Croatian, but of world tennis. However, I hope that the ‘head’ will be there again, that I will to rest physically. These conditions really suit me and I hope that with the support of the audience in Banja Luka, I will win the match again”.
In April, Džumhur also played at the “Serbian Open” in Banja Luka, and in some media, especially in the Federation of BiH, they recognized the “Serbian tricolor” on his shirt, which is why he experienced numerous insults on social networks. Interestingly, on Thursday evening he wore the same jersey, sponsored by the company “Mizuno”.
“The question is not provocative, the question is appropriate. It was a collection of sponsored jerseys in which I played from the Australian Open to Roland Garros. Why am I playing in the same collection again? Well, I’m very superstitious and I have about a million ‘brains’ about these things . I have to say that in this combination I played the best all year. When I had a score crisis, I decided to change the jersey again and I started playing well again with that combination. I say, when you are doing well, then you don’t change. That is like that. It’s a good question, in place… If people want to cause some hatred, they can do it in anything, so they will find it in equipment as well”,Džumhur concluded.