Virat is a friend, someone I respect & admire; he is the reason I started following cricket: Djokovic

Novak Djokovic praises friendship with Virat Kohli, crediting him for his interest in cricket, and proposes tennis–cricket crossover in India. He recalls Kohli attending Wimbledon Championships 2025 with Anushka Sharma and expresses admiration and desire to visit India soon again soon

New Delhi:  Serbian tennis great Novak Djokovic opened up on his friendship with Indian cricket stalwart Virat Kohli and revealed that it was Kohli because of whom he started watching cricket and expressed a desire to crossover between tennis and cricket involving the two legends when he visits India.

Last year at Wimbledon 2025 on July 7, alongside his wife, Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, Kohli witnessed Djokovic’s thrilling round of 16 win against Australia’s Alex de Minaur and later took to Instagram to share his excitement, posting a heartfelt story for the Serb.

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“What a match. It was business as usual for the gladiator, @djokernole,” Kohli had shared on X. “Virat is a friend and someone I, of course, respect and admire. He is actually, to be honest, the reason why I started following cricket. When I come to India, hopefully he can join, and then we could do a little bit of tennis, a little bit of cricket, and have fun and just spread positive, good vibes with people and celebrate sport,” Djokovic was quoted as saying by Times Now on the sidelines of the Laureus World Sports Awards.

Last year in May, when Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket, the 24-time Grand Slam winner spared a moment to pay his respects to the batting stalwart. He took to his Instagram and reshared the Indian batter’s Instagram post regarding his retirement, adding a tag that reads, “Incredible innings @virat.kohli.”

Djokovic also shared a heartfelt message for his Indian fans, expressing deep gratitude for the “love, respect, and appreciation” he has received from tennis and fans across the globe. “My message is always love, respect, and appreciation for, first of all, all the support over the years that I personally have been receiving from all the Indian tennis fans and Indian sports fans around the world. There are so many that I’ve been meeting all this time.

“And my message would also be ‘See you very soon in India because I need to go to India’ I’ve been feeling a calling to come for the last couple of years. So I really hope that I’ll be able to come to India and do an event, play a match, or whatever it is. I really wish for that because I feel very close to Indian people,” Djokovic added.