Novak Djokovic has revealed he feels “like a Greek” after moving to Athens from Serbia, while Stefanos Tsitsipas has spoken about having dinner with the tennis legend.
Djokovic reportedly started living in Athens, Greece’s capital, with his wife Jelena and children Stefan and Tara, in September.
Last week, Thanos Plevris — the Greek minister for immigration and asylum — revealed that Djokovic “wishes to stay with his family in our country” in a social media post.
What did Djokovic say about living in Greece?
In Athens, Djokovic was asked by a reporter for ANT1 if he feels like a Greek man.
“I do, I do feel like a Greek. I still have to learn Greek,” Djokovic said.
“I’m not very good with the language yet; it’s not easy.”
The 38-year-old, who is ranked third in the world, added: “My plan for this season is to stay healthy and happy.”
What did Tsitsipas say about having dinner with Djokovic?
During an appearance on the What’s The Call? podcast, Tsitsipas spoke about having dinner with Djokovic last year.
“So I had dinner with Novak a few months ago in my hometown, Vouliagmeni,” said the Greek ATP star.
“And that was the first few weeks when he moved to Greece. So I obviously invited him. We had a nice little dinner for two hours.
“I was very curious to learn from him. I’m really curious to learn from his career, from his lessons that he’s learned throughout his career, his medical stuff, all these things that he does.
“And there was a lot of insightful stuff that I got out of it. Very interesting guy to talk to on a deep level. And I really had a lot of fun spending time with him.”
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Tsitsipas added: “It’s a very individualistic sport. It’s really a very lonely sport. And you’re always on the move, always on the go.
“You don’t have time to settle. And it’s very unpredictable as well. You don’t know where you’re going to leave. Day by day, you’re trying to see where that leads to.”
Tsitsipas, a former world No 3 currently ranked 33rd, lost to Djokovic in both of his Grand Slam final appearances; at the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open.
Why did Novak Djokovic move from Serbia to Greece?
Djokovic has not revealed the reason for his relocation from his home city of Belgrade, but it reportedly involved the Serbian government.
In December 2024, Djokovic – who is Serbia’s biggest national icon – expressed support for the student-led protests against Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic and the government as a whole.
The previous month, mass protests took place in Novi Sad, the second largest city in Serbia, after the collapse of a railway station canopy killed 16 people, with demonstrators accusing Serbian police and local authorities of negligence and corruption. Protests had spread to 400 cities and towns by March 2025.
According to Jaschar Dugalic, a journalist reporting for German news outlet Neue Zurcher Zeitung, the Serbian government “set its sights” on Djokovic as a result of his stance.
Dugalic reported, that “regime-friendly media” in Serbia has attacked the character of Djokovic, with tabloid newspaper Informer branding the tennis legend a “disgrace” in response to his public support for protests.
After it was reported that Djokovic was considering moving to Athens with his family, the same outlet labelled him “a false patriot who had presented himself as a symbol of Serbia for years only to now flee to Greece.”