{"id":152287,"date":"2025-09-12T20:46:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T20:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/152287\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T20:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T20:46:11","slug":"novak-djokovic-invited-to-watch-rival-davis-cup-team-after-denying-serbia-call-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/152287\/","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic invited to watch rival Davis Cup team after denying Serbia call-up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Novak Djokovic had the opportunity to play in the Davis Cup this week but decided against it.<\/p>\n<p>After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/news\/novak-djokovic-posts-four-word-message-on-instagram-after-losing-to-carlos-alcaraz-at-the-us-open\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Djokovic lost to Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> in the US Open semifinals, the Serb could have joined up with his teammates for their World Group I tie against Turkey.<\/p>\n<p>With the 24-time Grand Slam champion choosing to rest instead, Serbian captain Viktor Troicki had this to say during his press conference.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"668\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-1356663264-1024x668.jpg\" alt=\"Viktor Troicki celebrating with Novak Djokovic at the 2021 Davis Cup\" class=\"wp-image-129281\" \/>Photo by Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Novak [Djokovic]<\/a>, who played in the semi-finals of the US Open, is not with us; a place is reserved for him in the team whenever he is available,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He won\u2019t be watching Serbia play in Belgrade, but he could still be in attendance for another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/davis-cup\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Davis Cup<\/a> tie this week\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Greek Tennis Federation invite Novak Djokovic to watch their match with Brazil<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, news broke that Djokovic had moved his family to Greece, renting a house in Glyfada, Athens. <\/p>\n<p>The 38-year-old will play the Athens Open later this year, an event which took the Belgrade Open\u2019s place in the calendar.<\/p>\n<p>As Djokovic\u2019s ties with Greece strengthen, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sdna.gr\/tenis\/1347849_proskalese-ton-tzokobits-sto-oaka-i-omospondia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">SDNA<\/a> have reported that the Greek Tennis Federation have invited him to watch their Davis Cup match with Brazil this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe legendary Serb is currently in Athens and the EFOA [Hellenic Tennis Federation] invited him to see the Greek team\u2019s effort up close at the renovated OAKA [Olympic Athletic Centre of Athens],\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2232542486-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Novak Djokovic celebrates his fourth-round win at the 2025 US Open\" class=\"wp-image-129278\" \/>Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Sitting 19 places below Brazil in the Davis Cup rankings, Greece will begin the tie as underdogs on Sunday, September 14.<\/p>\n<p>Brazil\u2019s Davis Cup team (#19) vs GreeceJaime Oncins (captain)Joao FonsecaThiago Seyboth WildMatheus Pucinelli De AlmeidaRafael MatosMarcelo MeloGreece\u2019s Davis Cup team (#38) vs BrazilApostolos Tsitsipas (captain)Stefanos TsitsipasStefanos SakellaridisAristotelis ThanosIoannis XilasPetros Tsitsipas<\/p>\n<p>The big match everyone\u2019s hoping to see is, of course, Stefanos Tsitsipas vs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/joao-fonseca\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Joao Fonseca<\/a>, a match between a former two-time Grand Slam finalist and one of the stars of the future.<\/p>\n<p>It is, however, unclear whether <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/stefanos-tsitsipas\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tsitsipas<\/a> will be fit to compete, as he continues to struggle with injury.<\/p>\n<p>Only time will tell who will emerge victorious, but it will certainly be interesting to see if a certain Serbian star chooses to attend\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Why might Novak Djokovic ignore the invitation?<\/p>\n<p>Choosing to watch another country play in a competition you declined to participate in may not go down too well with the Serbian fans.<\/p>\n<p>Especially considering Serbia and Greece are rivals in the Davis Cup World Group I.<\/p>\n<p>Davis Cup World Group I ties (September 12-14, 2025)Home teamHome team rankingAway teamAway team rankingCanada6Israel30Bulgaria36Finland14Serbia15Turkey33Poland34Great Britain16Chile17Luxembourg41Greece=38Brazil19Slovakia21Colombia45Korea Republic23Kazakhstan29Switzerland24India37Sweden25Tunisia47Peru31Portugal26Chinese Taipei27Norway32Ecuador=38Bosnia and Herzegovina28Upcoming World Group I ties<\/p>\n<p>The victors of these ties will play the qualifying round in 2026, with the winners advancing to the Davis Cup Finals in November.<\/p>\n<p>Serbia have been a successful Davis Cup side over the years since Djokovic burst onto the scene, picking up their maiden title in 2010.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"660\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-107340750-1024x660.jpg\" alt=\"Team Serbia celebrate with the Davis Cup title in 2010\" class=\"wp-image-129292\" \/>Photo by Julian Finney\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>They qualified for another final three years later, but fell short, losing 3-2 to the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n<p>The nation reached the semifinals of the Davis Cup just two years ago, before their form took a turn.<\/p>\n<p>Losing to Slovakia in 2024 and Denmark earlier this year, Serbia now find themselves out of contention for the Davis Cup Finals.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ll be hoping to see Djokovic return to the fold before too long, in a bid to see them challenge for a second Davis Cup title.<\/p>\n<p>Seeing him courtside in Athens won\u2019t do morale much good, as the likes of Miomir Kecmanovic and Hamad Medjedovic fight for their country\u2019s place in the 2026 qualifiers.<\/p>\n<p>Serbia will begin their World Group I tie with Turkey on Saturday, September 13, before Greece begin their match with Brazil on Sunday, September 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic had the opportunity to play in the Davis Cup this week but decided against it. After&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[430,29853,433,99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-152287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-atp","9":"tag-davis-cup","10":"tag-novak-djokovic","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}