Published 17:36 IST, February 2nd 2021
Novak Djokovic amusingly tries to channel inner Ronaldinho, but fails miserably: WATCH
Making the most of the end of his 14-day long quarantine period in Adelaide, Novak Djokovic hit the beaches in Australia before the ATP Cup 2021.
- SportFit
- 3 min read
Making the most of the end of his 14-day long quarantine period in Adelaide and hoping for some fun before the rigours of the Grand Slam season begin, Novak Djokovic hit the beaches in Australia. In a hilarious video posted on his social media channels on Saturday, January 30, the World No.1 can be seen playing something close to a game of Footvolley - a mix of beach volleyball and football that is popular in South America and Australia. The video in question - showing Djokovic attempting to and almost injuring himself in the process of recreating a trick shot - is gaining a lot of traction on social media.
Djokovic tries - and fails - to emulate Ronaldinho ahead of Australian Open 2021
Going back to his comedic roots from early in his career, World No.1 Novak Djokovic almost went too far in his attempt to copy an old video by football legend, Ronaldinho and Footvolley star, Natalia Guitler playing the sport. The original video shows Guitler performing something akin to a bicycle kick while Ronaldinho sets up the shot for her. In Djokovic's version though, the kick is replaced by a header that never sees the light of day, with Djokovic running headfirst into the net before he could even make contact with the ball.
The epic fail sent Djokovic's friends crashing to the sand in peals of laughter but gained at least some praise from Natalia Guitler herself. Guitler took to Twitter, writing that she believed that Djokovic could make a career change as quickly as a month from now, he if wanted to.
ATP Cup 2021 and Nadal Injury update
While Djokovic is still clearly a while away from mastering Footvolley, his tennis talents have not died down over the lockdown. Leading Serbia's charge and title defence at the ATP Cup 2021, Djokovic had an easy start to his campaign on Tuesday. The world No.1 won 7-5, 7-5 over young Canadian star Denis Shapovalov before scoring another victory over him and his doubles teammate, Milos Raonic alongside Filip Krajinović with a 7-5, 7-6 scoreline. His next match will be against Alexander Zverev.
After Djokovic's injury scare at the exhibition game in Adelaide, World No.2 Rafael Nadal has given fans a scare by announcing that he would not be playing Spain's Day 1 games at the ATP Cup. The Spaniard cited a "stiff low back" as his reason for pulling out of his opening fixture against Australia's Alex Di Minaur but seemed confident that he would be fit before the second round of matches commenced on Thursday.
Also Read | Alexander Zverev Chooses Between Novak Djokovic And Rafael Nadal In Quarantine Controversy
Image Credits: Novak Djokovic Twitter
Updated 17:36 IST, February 2nd 2021