After winning his record 24th Grand Slam title in the US Open final on early Monday morning, tennis star Novak Djokovic paid tribute to Kobe Bryant, the basketball legend who passed away in 2020.
Remarkable gesture
The Serbian, after winning the most Grand Slam Titles and surpassing legends like Serene Williams, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, decided to wear a shirt that read ‘Mamba Forever’. The shirt also had his and Bryant’s photos together.
While delivering the speech after his remarkable gesture, Djokovic revealed that he decided to do the same if he wins the tile as Djokovic was a “close, close friend”. Explaining further, the winner of most Grand Slams said he had been toying with the idea for a long time but eventually decided to call up his people to make this shirt.
Speaking about Bryant, Djokovic further said that when he was struggling with injury and was trying to make a comeback, both he and the former used to talk a lot about the winner’s mentality. He added he used to rely on the advice of Los Angeles Laker star heavily.
While pointing out that Bryant was always there for him whenever he needed any counsel he decided to dedicate his 24th Grand Slam title to the basketball legend, as the former also used to wear a t-shirt with the same number while he was playing for the Lakers and eventually becoming a legend in the basketball world.
Record title
Earlier, he defeated his Russian challenger Daniil Medvedev in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 to win the US Open title. After winning this title, he also became the first player to win three grand slams in a year for the fourth time. He achieved similar feet in 2011, 2015 and 2021.
While the victory score might look one-sided, Medvedev did give him a lot of fighting before eventually going down.