Novak Djokovic set to play his first tournament as a father

Novak Djokovic

Paris, Oct 28 (IANS)

Serb Novak Djokovic will try to defend his title as well as the world No.1 spot against Swiss Roger Federer and other world-class tennis players at the BNP Paribas Masters starting Monday night amid the joy of becoming a father.

"It wasn't a distraction to my career and to my tennis. In contrary, I was very much looking forward to becoming a parent and living this joyful moment together," the top-seeded Serbian said at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy Monday, reports Xinhua.

According to Serbian media, Djokovic's wife Jelena gave birth to a baby boy named Stefan late last Tuesday, and the 27-year-old star responded at twitter, calling it "our baby angel".

Stefan, our baby angel was born! I am so proud of my beautiful wife Jelena! Thank you so much for your love and support. We love you all!!!

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) October 22, 2014

"It happened almost a week ago," he told the press in Paris.

"Luckily I was there and it didn't interfere with my tennis schedule. It was the most beautiful thing that ever happened in my life and her life, definitely."

Djokovic has no plan of taking time off from the game.

"I will try to have my family travel with me as much as they can, obviously. For me, it's important to participate in my child' s life as much as I can, in his development, in his growing up, in his childhood," he said.

"If I can, I would like to be with him every single day and with my wife, but sometimes that's not possible, like this week for example, or London (for the ATP Finals), because the baby is too young to travel yet.

"But starting from next year, we'll try to be together. It's not easy, the kind of lifestyle that a tennis player has. There is a lot of travelling, a lot of hotels, a lot of planes.

"It's not, let's say, the healthiest option for a baby, of course...but again, we'll try to manage this situation," he added.