Novak Djokovic was one of the guests that witnessed the big night of six Serbian water polo greats. On Saturday night in Belgrade, Serbia clashed Italy in an exhibition water polo match. It was a big night for Serbian sports as six Serbian water polo greats – Filip Filipovic, Stefan Mitrovic, Milan Aleksic, Gojko Pijetlovic, Dusko Pijetlovic i Andrija Prlainovic – said goodbye to professional sports.
Those six belonged to the golden generation of Serbian water polo players as they won on every possible level. Djokovic was in attendance and paid his respect to the six Serbian water polo greats. “This was a big evening for Serbia and Serbian water polo, as well as for the water polo world.
The Magnificent Six, some of the greatest champions the world has ever seen retired tonight. It was emotional for all of us, all of us who are proud and close to them and who watched them play and win so many medals and titles during all these years,” Djokovic said, per Pink.rs.
Djokovic on his childhood friend retiring from water polo
“Filip Filipovic is my friend, a friend from childhood, we grew up together in Belgrade, we went to school together. We have known each other for a long time and now when I watch him retire tonight, it was something special.
He and all the other guys managed to make Serbia special so many times. I am honored to have been here and experienced this,” Djokovic said. When asked whether he had ever tried to play water polo versus his childhood friend Filipovic, Djokovic said no but expressed desire to get to know more about the game one day.
“No, I have never, but now we will have more time to hang out and I will ask him to go into the pool and to go easy on me, but also to teach me how to play and introduce me to the game. We all know that we swim and we think that’s everything you need, but it (water polo) is not just that simple,” Djokovic explained.
