Being considered outside the cultural attraction outside the court for a long time, tennis now owns many excellent documentaries - from the touching film Chris & Martina: The Final Set to Naomi Osaka, Carlos Alcaraz: My Way, Federer: Twelve Final Days. Recently is the 4-episode Rafa series, revolving around Rafael Nadal's journey of struggling with an almost lifelong injury to rise to the ranks of the greatest tennis players of all time.
The latest film to join this group is Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter, officially premiered from August 20th on Prime Video.
Directed by Jason Hehir - best known for the series The Last Dance exploiting Michael Jordan's last season at the Chicago Bulls - The Wolf in Winter attracts attention in many ways because of what it does not show.
Djokovic's childhood in Serbia in wartime is recreated through both documentary footage and retelling: Djokovic shared about the memory of running on the streets of Belgrade during an air raid, slipping out of his parents' hands and falling when they continued to rush away; about the first teacher who soon recognized his special qualities; and witnessed the scene of him having to part ways with his parents in a difficult but necessary way to go to Germany at the age of 12 to receive formal training that a future champion requires.
The Wolf in Winte also brings a pleasant surprise when delving into the hidden corners that poorer documentaries often avoid.
That is the complex relationship between Djokovic and experts and fans - who seem to always have some prejudice against the person who later won 24 Grand Slam titles, just because he appeared and broke the almost perfect beautiful rival pair between fiery Nadal and elegant and mesmerizing Federer.
This is a highlight, not a minus point of the film.
For our work, controversialness is great," Hehir shared at a private film screening last month in Manhattan, "Conflict means someone is being misunderstood - and that means they themselves also feel misunderstood - and we, as filmmakers, really like to exploit that.
The film also touches on an important reality happening in his current career: When will this 39-year-old tennis player retire? Although it does not give an exact answer, the film clearly shows us the inner battle taking place inside him.
Djokovic's confidence is truly commendable when he is willing to risk revealing many hidden corners of himself like that, instead of simply praising himself.
