The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Is it Djokovic or Joke-o-vic?

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Saturday, Sep 08, 2007
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Sport - Tennis

Is it Djokovic or Joke-o-vic?

NEW YORK: Novak Djokovic showed off his impersonations after a U.S. Open quarterfinal victory on Thursday, serving notice that he might be the next star personality in tennis as well as its hottest new contender.

The Serbian blitzed Spain’s Carlos Moya and then drew laughs and cheers from the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium with his impressions of Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal after prodding from a TV announcer.

“I enjoyed it,” Djokovic said. “I’m really happy the people accepted it in a positive way, not trying to make fun of Maria or Rafa or anybody else, just trying to make people laugh and enjoy and have a good time.”

The third seed whose name is aptly pronounced “Joke-o-vic” used his skills at exaggerated mannerisms first as Sharapova, tucking in his shirt, skipping and bouncing beyond the baseline, then sticking out his chest as he walked.

From the baseline, Djokovic mocked the Russian beauty by slowly smoothing back his hair over each ear, then lifting his arm and bouncing the ball high before firing off a serve.

To impersonate Nadal, Djokovic rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, bent over to adjust his shoes, raced to the baseline and repeatedly grabbed and tugged at his shorts, especially by the rear. Djokovic said that only Andy Roddick had tried to give him a taste of his own medicine.

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