US Open 2023: Novak Djokovic says he is living his childhood dream after 24th Grand Slam win

Novak Djokovic said that he was living his childhood dream after winning his 24th Grand Slam title on Sunday by lifting the US Open trophy.

The Serbian maestro clinched his 24th grand slam title, matching the overall record set by Margaret Court. Djokovic faced off against the third-ranked Daniil Medvedev in the men's singles final of the U.S. Open. The match was a thrilling spectacle, with Djokovic emerging victorious with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

This victory was particularly sweet for Djokovic as it was a rematch from the 2021 US Open title match where Medvedev had previously bested him in straight sets. The match was more closely contested than the straight-set score might suggest.

Medvedev led 3-1 in the tiebreaker but succumbed to some uncharacteristic ground stroke errors, allowing Djokovic to seize a commanding position. A deflated Medvedev fell behind early in the third set, and Djokovic cruised home to the title.

This victory marked Djokovic's fourth U.S. Open win, his first since 2018. At 36 years old, he also became the oldest male champion in the open era, surpassing the previous record set by Ken Rosewall in 1970. With this win, Djokovic moved one major singles title ahead of Serena Williams, becoming the first player to win 24 in the Open era.

Speaking at the trophy presentation, as quoted by ATP, the Serbian expressed his happiness at winning his 24th Grand Slam and paid a special tribute to his family.

“It means the world to me. I’m really living my childhood dream. To compete at the highest level. The sport has given me and my family so much. Coming from difficult circumstances and adversities, a couple wars in our country, being able to push that through, especially for my parents.. giving a lot of sacrifice to support me to play, I love you. Thank you so much."

"I fell in love with tennis. No one has played tennis in my family before, so it was quite a choice I must say," Djokovic said. "But incredible resilience, just belief from my parents, from all the people around me all these years. My wife my kids, my team, everyone that is there, this is your trophy as much as it is mine. This is your success. I love you."

Djokovic went on to say that his dream as a kid was to win the Wimbledon one day but started to set new goals for himself along the way as he aimed to become the best player in the world.

“To make history of this sport is just something truly remarkable and special,” Djokovic said during the trophy ceremony. “Obviously in every in every possible way, in every possible meaning of the word special. It's hard to describe in words. I had the childhood dream when I was seven, eight. I wanted to become the best player in the world and win the Wimbledon trophy. That was the only thing I wanted.

“But then when I realised that, obviously I started to dream new dreams and set new objectives, new goals. I never imagined that I would be here standing with you talking about 24 Slams.”