"Maybe I sound like a parrot that I keep repeating the word 'accept'" - Novak Djokovic reveals how he remembers big wins to overcome 'what if' moments

Despite all his incredible achievements over an illustrious career, Novak Djokovic is also troubled by 'what if' moments that remind him of some of the most heartbreaking losses of his career. However, he uses the memories of some of the biggest wins of his career from the most difficult circumstances to overcome the sad memories.

The Serbian tennis great believes it is very important for a player to look on the brighter side.

Djokovic is known as one of the mentally strongest players of all time for his many wins in matches where victory looked improbable. At the same time, he has experienced some losses that were 'tough to swallow.' He went on to name the 2020 Olympics defeat to Alexander Zverev, the 2012 US Open final loss to Andy Murray, and two Grand Slam final losses to Stan Wawrinka (2015 French Open and 2016 US Open) among the toughest losses of his career.

While he cannot stop feeling a lot of disappointment over those losses, he repeatedly reminds himself to 'accept.' Djokovic opined that a combination of wins and losses makes the overall journey more exciting.

"Look, sometimes it goes in your favor, sometimes it doesn't, and I think that makes the whole life journey more exciting," Novak Djokovic told journalist Reem Abulleil in a recent interview.

"But also, at the same time, you have to learn how to learn from those experiences. That's why, maybe it sounds like a cliche or maybe I'm sounding like a parrot that I keep repeating this word, 'accept, accept, accept,' but its also reminding myself that I have to accept it, because I do tend to, sometimes more, sometimes less, go in the past and say 'what if?'"

Having said that, the 22-time Grand Slam champion recognizes that he has also experienced some incredible wins, which he is always grateful for. Positivity and optimism are virtues he often relies on.

"You have to work hard and train to constantly rely on the more positive and optimistic part, which is like, okay all of those matches I lost were close but there are so many that I won," he expressed.

Djokovic further stated that he had a lot more to be grateful for rather being disappointed about, given the challenges he faced at a very early stage in life in war-torn Serbia.

"Sometimes I have to really pinch myself because reflecting on what I've been through, where I started," the 35-year-old continued.

"What is the probability of a young boy in Serbia, in a war-torn country growing up and playing a sport that had zero tradition in our country, and be able to achieve this much? So there's so much more to be thankful and proud of."

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Novak Djokovic highlights Wimbledon win against Roger Federer and Australian Open win against Rafael Nadal as most memorable wins

Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning the 2023 Australian Open.

After naming earlier-mentioned losses against Alexander Zverev, Andy Murray, and Stan Wawrinka among his biggest 'what if' moments, Novak Djokovic also shed light on some of his memorable wins that often help him overcome those 'what if' moments.

He highlighted two of those wins, both against his two greatest rivals. The first of those came in the famous 2012 Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal, which he won 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 after trailing in the fifth set. The second one was against Roger Federer in the 2019 Wimbledon final, in which he saved match points against the eight-time champion to win 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12.

"I was down against Federer in 2019 Wimbledon where statistically he was the better player in every segment of the game, but I just managed to win," Djokovic reminisced.

"Against Nadal, the famous almost 6-hour match where I was down 4-2, 30-30 for him or 30-15, an easy ball for him to go 40-15 in the fifth set, I managed to turn that around," he added.

The current World No. 1 is competing at the Dubai Tennis Championships this week, where he notched up another win in a tight battle. He beat Tomas Machac 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(1) to move into the Round of 16, where he will face Tallon Griekspoor.