"Stefan lured me in with a drop shot before he lobbed me" - Novak Djokovic on playing tennis with his son

Novak Djokovic practiced with his son Stefan prior to his third-round match against Stan Wawrinka at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

Stefan has been a part of Novak Djokovic's practices for a while now. He sometimes hits with his father, and sometimes with the other members of the team.

After the World No. 2 finished hitting with Carlos Gomez-Herrera on Friday, Stefan took the court and started warming up his dad for his match against Wawrinka. The 23-time Grand Slam champion was joking around with his son most of the time, but Stefan did hit one pretty good lob - which Djokovic was asked about in his post-match press conference.

"Goran (Ivanisevic) always jokes that lobs are in our blood, that Stefan inherited it from me – whenever someone is on the net, there is a lob coming 99 percent of the time (laughs). Today, Stefan lured me in with a drop shot before he lobbed me," Djokovic replied to the Serbian reporters at Wimbledon.

The 36-year-old, who also has a daughter named Tara, further talked about how much he enjoys playing tennis against his son.

"It's a huge pleasure for me to be able to play tennis with my son. Just that feeling alone that my son loves and wants to play the sport I've dedicated my life to is beautiful. When we're together on the court, there is no better feeling in the world," Djokovic added.

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Novak Djokovic speaks about his relationship with assistant coach Carlos Gomez-Herrera at Wimbledon 2023

Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon 2023 practice with his team (Carlos Gomez-Herrera, Goran Ivanisevic, and Marco Panichi)

Novak Djokovic has been working with Goran Ivanisevic for a few years now, but he has recently added an assistant coach to his team.

The man in question is the Spaniard Carlos Gomez-Herrera, former World No. 258 in singles, who retired in 2022 and almost immediately became the Serb's hitting partner.

During his post-match press conference after beating Stan Wawrinka in the third round of Wimbledon, Djokovic explained how the partnership came to fruition.

"Except for being my hitting partner and friend for years, he is also the best friend of my middle brother Marko and one of my better friends," Djokovic told Serbian reporters.

"I've known him for a while now, for 15 years to be exact, since the days when we were playing the Madrid Open was played indoors. That is when we met and when we started hanging out," he added.

The seven-time Wimbledon champion added that Charly, as he is known in the team, has become more than just a friend.

"He played a lot of tournaments with Marko and has become a member of our family, he is very close to us. We practiced many times while he was still playing professionally, and when he decided to retire last year we had a chat."

"I wanted him to join my team and everyone agreed. Except for being my hitting partner and first coach assistant, Charly is also a very organized person, and he helps our team both logistically and analytically," Djokovic said.