Ugo Delijen talked about Novak Djokovic, their match in Tokyo and the unforgettable gift he received from the Serb. From MONDA reporter Nemanja Stanojčić at Roland Garros.
Novak Djokovic is looking for a place at Roland Garros and is preparing for a match with Alejandro Davidovic Fokin in the third round of the Grand Slam in France. While the best Serbian tennis player is working on his preparation, we took the opportunity to talk to one player about him. It is in question Ugo Delijen.
If the name sounds familiar to you from somewhere, let us remind you, it is a Bolivian tennis player who played against Novak at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. He was remembered for his smile, great mood despite the defeat, and then he asked for a shirt from Nolet, which he got a little later. Reason enough for a short conversation with him, who immediately accepted. “I wasn’t even supposed to play in those Olympics“, began Delijen’s conversation with MONDO.
He soon explained how he came to play in Japan in the first place. “I had registered for a tournament in Gstaad (Switzerland) and everything was ready for me to participate there. Then at the last minute they told me that I could play in the Olympic Games. I immediately told my physiotherapist that this is my dream and I started praying that Djokovic would be my opponent.”
Many of his colleagues hope that he will not meet Novak even in the later stages, let alone in the first round. The Bolivian wanted it and his wish came true. Despite the convincing defeat (6:2, 6:2), he was laughing. “My main wish was to participate in the Games and be a part of it, after all, they are played every four years, the second wish was to play against Novak, the man who won everything. I really enjoyed it, it was something incredible for me and something I will remember forever, some people said that I was unlucky in the lottery and the like, but I really think that it was luck and that I enjoyed it.”
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Immediately after the match, he asked for Novak’s shirt. “I asked him on the pitch, he couldn’t give it to me then and then he brought it to me in the dressing room. I keep it in my house, I didn’t take it to Roland Garros.“
He vividly described how that match worked for him and everything that happened then. “It was a great satisfaction for me, the same when I played with Rafa for the first time. You dream about it all your life, I watched them on TV. Then you feel like you are in a video game. They are the idols of our generation, we grew up with their matches and that rivalry. Those are the things I enjoy.”
At the end, we asked him what he thinks, whether Novak can reach the 23rd Grand Slam Cup in Paris. “I don’t know if he will win Roland Garros, but I am sure he will win the 23rd Grand Slam trophyDelijen concluded.