Ronnie O'Sullivan was a guest in Novak Djokovic's box at Wimbledon; Djokovic says that he watches snooker to watch O'Sullivan and that he is a "really nice person"
Wednesday 3 July 2024 11:02, UK
Novak Djokovic was full of praise for Ronnie O'Sullivan after their first meeting at Wimbledon, admitting that he would only watch snooker when he was younger for the Rocket.
O'Sullivan was a guest in Djokovic's box at the All England Club on Tuesday and the two met for the first time after Djokovic came away with a comprehensive 6-1 6-2 6-2 victory over Vit Kopriva in one hour and 58 minutes on Centre Court.
Djokovic had entered the tournament nursing a knee injury picked up at the French Open last month which required surgery, but looked largely undeterred in his movement despite sporting a knee strap.
The seven-time world snooker champion was cheering for Djokovic throughout his match and the seven-time Wimbledon champion was quick to return the favour, calling O'Sullivan a "sporting great".
"I'm his fan. I watch snooker just because of him. I watched when I was a kid. Honestly, I watched him play many years ago," said Djokovic.
"My father loved watching snooker. I only watched Ronnie. Whenever he would not play, I would not watch.
"We just had a meet-up, an interaction for the first time. It was great.
"He was one of the sport greats I used to watch when I was a kid. It was really nice to have him around."
Djokovic is hopeful the two can link up and play snooker despite believing he is "really bad" at what is a "tough" sport.
"Hopefully we're able to play some snooker because I'm really bad at snooker. I'm okay at pool or billiards, but snooker, I tried it twice, and it's really, really tough," he added.
"Yeah, it's amazing. He's a really, really nice person, nice guy, and very funny."
