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Watch: Novak Djokovic dunks a basketball ahead of Australian Open
Novak Djokovic. PA Images/Alamy Images

Watch: Novak Djokovic dunks a basketball ahead of Australian Open

Novak Djokovic is a man of many talents.

Fans who’ve closely followed his career have likely seen videos of him doing impressions of his peers, participating in singing contests and even doing a standup routine that would have made professional comedians proud. The Serb didn’t just randomly earn the moniker of “The Joker.”

On Thursday, Djokovic — in the lead-up to his 2024 Australian Open title defense — participated in several extracurricular activities at the Rod Laver Arena, where he once again got to show off his many talents outside the tennis court.

Some of the activities included Djokovic doing the splits on a yoga mat, dunking a basketball, performing a middle-distance sprint, moonlighting as a courtside cameraman, playing wheelchair tennis and playing cricket. 

The best part? Djokovic excelled in each of these activities while wowing professionals in those specific crafts — renowned gymnast Georgia Godwin, Australian cricketer Steve Smith, Olympian Peter Bol and former NBA player Alan Williams, to name a few. That’s not all — Djokovic even broke out LeBron James’ signature celebration.

Over the next few weeks, Djokovic — widely regarded as the "GOAT" of men’s tennis — will look to continue rewriting the history books with a possible 25th major, an 11th Australian Open title and a 99th overall career singles title. The title win would also mark his 72nd hard-court championship, which would break the previous record set by the retired Roger Federer at 71. 

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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