Djokovic relishes Maradona’s support

Novak Djokovic hopes the support of Diego Maradona can inspire him to victory at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Maradona is a big tennis fan and was cheering on Djokovic from courtside at London’s O2 Arena on Monday as the Serbian third seed started his bid to win the prestigious end-of-year event with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych.

Djokovic revealed Maradona will be backing him at the tournament all week after the pair finally met in London following a long-distance exchange of gifts over the past three years.

He sent the former Barcelona and Napoli footballer a racquet and shirt to show his admiration and was delighted when Maradona res-ponded with a gift of a signed shirt.

The world number three wasn’t even born when Maradona cemented his reputation as the best player of his generation by leading Argentina to victory at the 1986 World Cup.

But Djokovic is still a huge fan of Maradona after watching footage of his brilliant solo goal against England in the 1986 tournament and of course his infamous ‘hand of god’ goal in the same match.

“He’s an image that is recognised all over the world. Just to have him as a support is an incredible honour and pleasure,” Djokovic said.