Novak Djokovic ‘intimidated’ by son Stefan’s Nadal-like forehand | Tennis News – Times of India

Novak Djokovic says his seven-year-old Stefan tries to “intimidate” him by hitting the forehand like his arch-rival Rafael Nadal during their friendly practice sessions.
The social media has been abuzz with Stefan joining his world famous father on the practice courts at Wimbledon this year and his follow-through has a striking resemblance to that of Nadal’s.
“He likes to do that. He likes to intimidate me on the court with finishing the swing here,” the 20-time Grand Slam winner said after this 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven in a third round match on Sunday.
“He knows I don’t like that particularly. I’m trying to teach him to finish the hand here, the swing, over the shoulder. He does that, but he does this as well.
“Whenever he does that he always laughs because he knows. We have this kind of funny moments on the court.”

Djokovic said that he was happy that the boy was showing keen interest in the game but he wanted him to enjoy this phase as a child growing up above all else.
“Right now he’s right now fully immersed into tennis. Everything around tennis, how he can play, he’s watching, he’s analyzing,” the Serb said.
“Last night when I was putting him to bed, he was asking me questions: What is the difference between the racquet head sizes, the strings, why somebody is stringing less tension, all these basic questions that kids are very curious about.

“He’s in love with tennis right now. It was fully his own desire to really pursue tennis. I never force him to be on the tennis court, but if he wants, I try to always make myself ready to be there and play with him.
“Of course, I will support him in any possible way I can so that he can be a professional tennis player if he intends to, if he really wants to.
“But it’s too early to speak about it, to be honest. He’s not even eight years old. It’s important for me that we have a relationship as a father and son, first of all before anything else, and that he’s enjoying life, that he’s having fun.”