On his deathbed, Patriarch Pavle blessed Nole: They said, leave the room - then he opened his eyes

Foto: Tanjug/AP, Profimedia/AFP

Novak Djokovic's mother, Dijana Djokovic, spoke in an interview with Sport Klub about her son and many details from his life. She revealed little-known details from Nole's career and life, and a particularly striking one was the visit to Patriarch Pavle when he was treated at the VMA clinic.

"Novak always has with him a cross, a gift from Hilandar that he wears as his lucky charm, he is a believer. I also remember, we came to visit Patriarch Pavle while he was in the hospital, we came as a family, he was half asleep. A deacon who was there with the patriarch told us to go out and just as we were leaving, Patriarch Pavle opened his eyes which were sky blue, looked at Novak, and gave him a blessing that meant a lot to us. It was a gift from God that Novak will never forget!," Diana said.

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Interestingly, on the very day of Patriarch Pavle's death, Novak won the Masters in Paris.

Novak is constantly struggling with pressure on the court, and his mother points out that he is successful in overcoming it thanks to working on himself and meditation.

"He learned to cope by working on himself. I think those are meditations, first and foremost. The day before Wimbledon, I remember, he was with us, but he was not. Physically he was, but not mentally. He played with the kids, but he didn't seem to be there. For two days he was mentally preparing himself for what was to follow, and was fully focused on that with his thoughts."

"That's exactly what helped him win that big final against Federer, and that was one of the hardest matches I watched. This year it was enough to make you scream. At some points maybe I lost it, I was not well. I took the cross and said 'you can do it' and I prayed to God and the prayer was answered, just like at the Australian Open a few years ago and that final when he also saved two match points, that was for a movie," said Dijana.

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For Dijana, the most painful moment was Novak leaving home as a child to develop his talent "across the pond," at the age of 13. She asked Jelena Gencic, who was Novak's first coach, to take care of his career.

"Please, Jelena, take him so he can make progress, he has to leave here to make progress. He left at the age of 13, with Goran, with the help of Jelena Gencic. I knew he was in good hands because those academies are good, but it's not the same until someone is with him. I called non-stop to see what it was like, they were like his father and mother. Already then it was evident that he was going to be a great player, what he was doing with his body, they called him the rubber man. He respected everything he had to do, warming up, stretching, he respected everything. There he met Ivanisevic and looked at him as a god, he gave him chocolate and Novak loved him a lot. While he was there, he hung out with our children from here (Serbia) and they were his only company," Dijana Djokovic pointed out.

(Telegraf.rs)