As the story of Hamad Medjedovic becomes more known, more people react to Novak Djokovic helping the rising talent pursue his dreams.
Medjedovic isn't that well-known to the wider tennis audience because it was only this year that he started to regularly compete at the ATP Challenger events. Before that, the Serbian mostly played smaller events and quite locally because he didn't have the means to do all the traveling.
Enter Novak Djokovic, who started supporting Medjedovic as his story blew up in Serbia. He became a financial aide as well as a mentor, and it's paid off tremendously. The talent was always there, and he showed it this week at the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah.
He advanced to the event's final, where he outplayed Arthur Fils to win the trophy. It was a hugely important one for the Serbian as he continued to carve out a place in the top flight of tennis. With his emergence, the story of Djokovic supporting him also came out.
The coach of Stan Wawrinka, Magnus Norman, reacted to it on social media praising Djokovic for helping Medjedovic. According to Norman, it's a great story that gets buried under a lot of other pieces about Djokovic.
Read. In a year very much filled with aggression, hate and violence in this world 😢 this is wonderful to read. An act of kindness and giving back without wanting publicity or PR. Well done @DjokerNole
The story Norman was referencing was one told by Medjedovic's father, who described how the situation came to be. Djokovic's intention was simply to help somebody chase their dreams as he understands how expensive tennis can be due to the way his career came to pass.
All he asked in return was that Medjedovic one day supports and uplifts another player when he makes it.
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