Novak Djokovic says winning medal at Rio 2016 Olympic Games is a priority
As new images of Rio’s Olympic Tennis centre are revealed, world no.1 joins list of top players targeting glory in Brazil
Novak Djokovic in action at the London 2012 Olympic Games tennis tournament at Wimbledon (Getty Images/Clive Brunskill)
World no.1 Novak Djokovic is the latest tennis star to express his desire to compete for a gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
As new pictures of Rio’s Olympic Tennis Centre emerged, the 10-time grand slam winner from Serbia has joined Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer in saying that competing at the first Olympic Games in South America is one of his priorities for next year.
Djokovic won the men’s singles bronze medal at the Beijing 2008 Games but just missed out on the podium at the London 2012 Games, where he was the Serbian team’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony. He was defeated by eventual champion Andy Murray in the semi-finals, before losing the bronze medal match against Juan Martin Del Potro.
“Everybody is looking forward to being part of the Olympic Games, and I'm not an exception,” Djokovic told reporters at the Shanghai Masters. “I really would love to be part of the Olympic Serbian team.
“That's definitely one of the highlights and one of the priorities of the next season, is to try to get a medal for my country. I’m going to do everything I can possibly to achieve that.”
The world's top players will battle for gold at the Olympic Tennis Centre (Photo: Renato Sette Camara/Rio Municipal Government)
Meanwhile, the Rio city government has released new images of the under-construction Olympic Tennis Centre in Barra Olympic Park.
The pictures show the newly laid playing surface inside the Centre Court stadium, which will have a 10,000 capacity. It is the second court to be laid, following one of the outside courts, that will have a 3,000 temporary seats.
