Novak Djokovic made a wager with French Open winner Ion Tiriac following his gold medal triumph at the Olympics, according to the former tennis star.
The Serbian sporting icon made further history in his sport when defeating Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 7-6 in the gold medal match at the Paris Games earlier this month.
The 37-year-old earned his first medal in Paris and became just the fifth player in tennis history to achieve a Golden Slam alongside Steffi Graff.
Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi and Serena Williams as the only players to win every Grand Slam and an Olympic gold medal.
On top of the rampant celebrations that surely would have followed after his narrow win over his Spanish rival.
A wager between Djokovic and ex-tennis ace-turned-businessman Tiriac was said to have occurred during a phone call, with the billionaire Romanian making the claim during an interview with welovetennis.
Tiriac – who won the 1970 French Open in men’s doubles – spoke of Djokovic’s early start in tennis that saw him travel to Romania due to the expensive cost of playing the sport in his hometown of Belgrade.”‘Baby’ Djokovic trained in Romania when he was just starting out, travelling 80 kilometres every day because it was too expensive in Belgrade,” the 85-year-old said.
Having made his billions in the banking industry before branching out into insurance, auto leasing, auto dealerships and airlines, Tiriac claimed to have made a bet with Djokovic after his stunning victory in Paris. But the billionaire, who has a reported net worth of up to $2.1bn (£1.6bn), was particularly coy on the details surrounding the supposed wager.
“I invited him to the Bucharest tournament twice. I know him well. He’s a very decent person. In fact, I called him after his victory in Paris at the Olympic Games and told him: ‘Young man, old player’. I also took the opportunity to make a bet with him, but unfortunately I can’t tell you more about that (laughs).”
Djokovic has a sizeable net worth of his own, supposedly of around £180m from his tennis career and endorsements. But the financial figures surrounding his and Tiriac’s bet will remain a mystery.
In a prior interview, Tiriac was asked his thoughts on Roger Federer who he revealed had always shown him the ultimate respect despite the pair not being overly familiar with each other. “I don’t actually know Roger Federer very well, but he has always respected me. Like the other stars on the circuit, he calls me the boss.”
Tiriac admitted he believes the Swiss superstar belongs in a “different category” to Nadal and Djokovic, despite having less Grand Slams than both players. “I honestly believe that he’s really in a different category if you compare him to Nadal or Djokovic, for example. He’s a player who has invented things on the tennis court that didn’t exist before. Physically, he has always been a bit inferior to Djokovic and Nadal, but there’s no doubt of his talent.”
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Source: USA Today
