Football star Erling Haaland revealed that, for him, in another sport, tennis legend Novak Djokovic is the greatest hero in him and expressed his admiration for the Serbian tennis player.
Haaland, who is widely regarded as one of the best players in world football today, is playing for Premier League champions Manchester City. The 23-year-old joined from Germany's Borussia Dortmund in 2022.
In the 2022-2023 season, Haaland broke the record for the most goals scored in a Premier League season with an astonishing number of 36 and helped Man City win a historic treble.
Meanwhile, Djokovic had one of the most beautiful seasons of his illustrious career in 2023. The 36-year-old tennis player won the Australian Open, French Open, US Open and ATP Finals - 4 of the 5 biggest tournaments in tennis - and also reached the Wimbledon final.
The Serbian tennis player has won all of these major finals in consecutive sets against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner.
Djokovic, who set a record of 24 Grand Slam titles for men, also won the world No. 1 ATP title at the end of the year, extending his record to 8.
In the Official Man City podcast, Haaland mentioned Djokovic when asked who his sports hero in another sport was.
I like Djokovic. I think he's good, he's himself and what he's achieved is incredible, especially from where he comes from. I will choose Djokovic, Haaland said.
Haaland is talking about Djokovic coming from a country of struggles and war-affected but still developing into one of the greatest athletes in the history of sports.
In the post with a tweet sharing a clip of Haaland talking about himself, Djokovic tagged the Man City star to thank him.
Thank you @ErlingHaaland, the world No. 1 tennis player wrote on Twitter/X.
In addition to Haaland, after Djokovic's excellent 2023 season, top tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou was also surprised by Djokovic's "life of the profession" and said that there was no doubt that he had affirmed his GOAT position.
I have never seen in the history of tennis a head coach at the age of 36, as many as they are at the age of 26, 28. It's a career at the top," the French coach told Tennis Majors.
He has had a difficult year or two, but for most of his career, he has always been at his peak, even though he played at the same time as Roger and Rafa, that says more about how dominating and incredible he is.
I think the famous debate about who GOAT is is now completely over after this incredible year, 3 more Grand Slams, plus 1 final. He has a record in almost every place - the Masters 1000, the weeks 1, the Grand Slams - and he's still playing, he's still top," Haaland said.
Last month, Djokovic was beaten in four sets by world No. 4 Jannik Sinner in the 2024 Australian Open semi-finals. The 36-year-old is expected to return to compete in the Indian Wells Masters in March.
