Novak Djokovic made his daughter feel seen as he celebrated heading into the U.S. Open semifinals against Carlos Alcaraz next. On August 2, he beat Taylor Fritz 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the quarter-finals and he took the opportunity to give a special shoutout to his daughter Tara Djokovic, seven. He hilariously did the "Soda Pop" dance from one of Tara's favorite movies, the KPop Demon Hunters. The U.S. Open posted the heartwarming clip onto its social media page, and Novak added a snapshot of the moment with the caption: "For Tara. Soda popping into [the] semifinal." Check out the video below.
He shared in his post-win interview: "It's 20 minutes to midnight here on the 2nd of September. It's my daughter's birthday so this is a big present for her," as he held up a heart with his hands. "Actually the dance in the end…She's gonna rate me tomorrow 'how was the dance,' because she [taught] me how to dance."
Novak continued: "It's KPop Demon Hunters. 'Soda Pop,' is the name of the song. Obviously it's a big thing globally for teenagers and for kids, but I didn't know about it before my daughter told me a few months ago about it, so we're at home doing different choreographies and this is one of them, so hopefully I'll make her smile when she wakes up tomorrow morning."
Fans loved the sweet gesture and took to the comments. One person wrote: "Best b-day gift EVER! His daughter is gonna wake up with a big smile." Someone else added: "Dad goals. Overflowing with love for his amazing kids." Others shared their thoughts on his dancing. One fan wrote: "You never know his next move. Love this." Another commenter continued: "He nailed it."
Novak shares his two children Tara and Stefan Djokovic, 10, with his wife since 2014, Jelena Djokovic. The family often cheers the tennis legend on during his matches. His son has a growing interest in tennis, however, Tara hasn't shown the same yet. This isn't the first time that the doting father-of-two has given Tara a shoutout in the media.
Back in 2023 during Novak's press conference at the Australian Open, he noted Tara's hobbies and strong personality. He shared: "She is not into tennis at all. She's into ballet and gymnastics. You know, she's a really cute girl. She keeps me grounded and humble, and she spins me around every single day. Whenever she looks at me, I'm disarmed. Her look is the most beautiful look I've ever experienced in my life. I miss them."
It's easy to see that becoming a father has left a huge impact on Novak and his game — even when he wins a match, on the forefront of his thoughts are his children. He explained to Sportsskeeda: "It changed me a lot as a person. Of course, it's different for everybody. I can't say that it's in general like this. Everybody has a different way of seeing parenthood and how it affects them."
He expressed: "For me, it's the biggest blessing that you can have in your life. I had one of the best seasons after I became a father in 2014. End of 2014 I became a father and in 2015, I had one of the best years." Novak lovingly added that his great success with being a working dad would not have been possible without his dedicated wife.
The tennis icon expressed just how grateful he is for her and said: "I continued to do what I do, and thanks to my wife who allowed me to play tennis at this level and take care of our first child and then the second child. It's so important to have a partner that is supportive. And she was sacrificing a lot for me to be able to play tennis and compete."