"I would leave Novak Djokovic for James Bond" - Serb hilariously accepts mock offer to be next Hollywood sensation

Novak Djokovic hilariously accepted a mock offer to be the next James Bond after channeling his fictional character called 'Bert Critchley' from the ATP's fictional show 'The Tour'.

In February this year, the ATP released their exclusive reality show in which the players were given a unique identity and their on-court persona was labeled as a part of their acting job.

The players featured in the first episode included Andy Murray as Fraser McKnight, Novak Djokovic as Bert Critchley, Gael Monfils as Peter Arthur, Casper Ruud as Thomas Johnson, and others.

A few weeks later, the ATP also organized the Golden Racket Award, a parody where Bert Critchley (Djokovic) was conferred the 'Best Storyline' trophy. The Serb recently won a real award named the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award for his outstanding performance in the 2023 season.

The Laureus ceremony was held in Madrid, Spain, where he sat down for an interview as Bert before being facilitated. The host of the interview questioned him if playing James Bond is the next big step as an actor.

"So Bert you’re at the top of your game, you’ve won the Golden Racket Award, you’re nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year again. There’s a lot of talk about you being the next James Bond. Are you the next James Bond?" the host asked.

He hilariously agreed and claimed that he could see it coming.

"Am I? I mean, isn’t it obvious? I don’t know what took them so long, but, if that’s the official offer, I’m ready. I mean, I love my Novak Djokovic character. I think I enjoyed it. We had fun with it, but, I probably would leave Novak for James Bond. I think it’s time to take my acting career to a different level," the 24-time Grand Slam champion replied.

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Novak Djokovic's hilarious acceptance speech as Bert Critchley after receiving 'Best Storyline' award

A photo from the 2023 Wimbledon Championships

When Novak Djokovic received the mock award as Bert Critchley under the ATP's Golden Racket Award, he gave an elaborate and funny speech. To begin with, he thanked his fandom that he renamed to 'Bert Fam' from 'Nole Fam', saying:

"Finally all these years of playing Novak Djokovic, I’m so happy. I wanna thank all the Bert Fam that has been trusting me, following me, supporting me over the years. Thank you for supporting my character."

He then picked Andy Murray a.k.a. Fraser McKnight as his favored co-star.

"It’s been really incredible journey, incredible ride for 20 years, playing Novak Djokovic. At times, he was really funny, at times, boring as hell. But you know it’s part of the job. You have to just accept it, embrace it. I love working with Fraser McKnight, my friend, and others," he said.

The Serb then rued not starting the season as an Australian Open champion, a feat he has achieved 10 times.

"It didn’t start the way I would normally start winning the Australian Open but you know, it was fun. So thank you to all the producers, directors, I’ll be back soon," he added.

The 36-year-old notably lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals of the Australian Open in January this year.