Mark Hodgkinson

Novak Djokovic can still be the daddy of the court

Mark Hodgkinson

October 28, 2014

Novak Djokovic faces a 'Battle of the Fathers' with Roger Federer to end the season as world No.1 © Getty Images

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There is likely to be a period of adjustment, Pete Sampras told me, as Novak Djokovic "settles into fatherhood".

And yet the implication from Sampras - whose own accomplishments, including all 14 of his grand slam titles, came while he was still childless - was that, once Djokovic has "settled in" as a dad on tour, parenting ought not to prevent the world No.1 and Wimbledon champion from achieving his ambitions in tennis. Maybe Djokovic won't tick off everything on his wish list - winning a French Open title would give him a career Grand Slam - but if he doesn't it won't be because of the arrival of his son, "baby angel Stefan".

"Once Novak has settled into fatherhood, he is still going to do well, he is still going to be there at the end of tournaments," Sampras said.

Right now, Djokovic is still in what some new parents like to describe as the 'baby-moon' period, when you're experiencing that great post-natal elation and nothing can intrude on your happiness. This week's indoor tournament in the east of Paris brings Djokovic's first competitive tennis as a father, the first sightings of him in the next phase of his life and career. But these are early days. He's without his wife Jelena and Stefan in Paris, just as he will be on his own - head coach Boris Becker and the rest of the entourage aside - when he comes to London for the season-ending championships, the ATP World Tour Finals.

Forget super-coaches; what every tennis player needs now is a reliable nanny

It's Djokovic's intention to travel the tennis road with his family next season; it will be in the early months of 2015, you suspect, that he will have to adjust to the realities of parenting on tour. Still, Djokovic doesn't have to look far to find other examples of tennis players who have continued to have success since becoming dads. It was Andy Murray's former coach, Ivan Lendl, who observed during his own playing career that if you become a father you're left with a choice - either you cheat on your tennis or you cheat on your family. Lendl was one of those greats of the game - along with Sampras, John McEnroe and Stefan Edberg - who didn't win a Grand Slam as a father.

But look at the tennis elite now. Djokovic is competing for the year-end No.1 ranking with a father of four, Roger Federer, whose wife Mirka gave birth to a second set of twins before the French Open this year. It is that Battle of the Fathers to finish the season at the top of the tennis tree that prompted the comment from Djokovic that, "the way I feel right now, I feel like I'm already number one after becoming a father - for me, this is the most important moment in my life".

Becoming a father has not stopped Roger Federer winning grand slams - his first set of twins, daughters Myla and Charlene, were there to watch his 2012 Wimbledon triumph © PA Photos

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Two of Federer's 17 grand slam titles have come since the first set of twins were born in the summer of 2009, winning the 2010 Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2012. This summer, Federer came extremely close to winning another major as a father, pushing Djokovic to the limit in a pulsating, five-set Wimbledon final. The birth of Stefan Djokovic means that half of the Big Four of men's tennis - Federer, Rafa Nadal, Djokovic and Murray - are now fathers. This golden era is now a generation of breeders. As the rankings stand this week (the top four aren't always necessarily the four big beasts), three of the leading four are fathers, with Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka also a dad. Forget super-coaches; what every tennis player needs now is a reliable nanny.

Among his other preparations for the birth of Stefan, Djokovic spoke privately to Federer to ask his advice on having a baby or four in your entourage. Doubtless Djokovic would also have spoken to Becker, as one of his majors came when he was a father. There are undoubtedly challenges to be faced when flying from tournament to tournament with an infant, even when you're in your own jet, or turning left on a 'commercial' flight - and Djokovic acknowledged this week that a life on the road perhaps isn't the healthiest existence for a baby - but if you want to be together as a family, what's the alternative?

As Becker has said, the life of a tennis player is on the road. But those challenges can be overcome, and you can carry on winning the biggest prizes, the grand slams. Becker did it. Andre Agassi did it. Only this January in Melbourne, Wawrinka had his biggest win as a father. And Federer is still a force. Ultimately, it comes down to your set-up and how you approach those challenges.

Personality is key - Sampras admires Federer for the way he is able to take his family from hotel to hotel while also keeping focused on his tennis. Will Djokovic also be the same, you wonder? "I hope that being a father will have a positive effect on my career. In terms of my approach to tennis, nothing changes," Djokovic said at a news conference in France. "I'm still out there, still fighting, competing, trying to be the number one in the world, and trying to win tournaments."