"It was fun ripping my shirt off" - Novak Djokovic beats Carlos Alcaraz, Andy Murray for 'Best Storyline' award in mock ATP Golden Racket awards

Novak Djokovic recently reacted to winning the 'Best Storyline' award at the mock ATP Golden Racket Awards.

The ATP Golden Racket Awards is a continuation of the parody sketch posted by the ATP Tour earlier this year. The sketch 'revealed' that tennis is actually scripted and everything that we see is pre-planned. It featured some of the biggest names in the sport.

The Serb, whose 'real' name is Bert Critchley, was nominated for the 'Best Storyline' award alongside Fraser McKnight (Andy Murray), Slicey Roberts (Grigor Dimitrov) and Charlie Garcia (Carlos Alcaraz).

It was Novak Djokovic, defeating his contemporaries with his '24 Slams' story. He made a victory speech to celebrate his win, thanking his 'Bertfam' (A play on 'Nolefam' which the Serb's fans are called) for supporting him throughout his career spanning more than 20 years.

"Oh my god. Yes. 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," Djokovic said.

"Thank you for supporting my character, its been a 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," he added.

The World No. 1 also thanked Murray and other contemporaries and acknowledged that the 2024 season didn't start according to plan, alluding to his defeat at the Australian Open, but promised that he will bounce back.

"I love working with Fraser McKnight, my friends and others," Djokovic said. "It didn’t start the way I would normally start winning Australian Open but, you know, it was fun ripping my shirt off in the restroom in Melbourne was one of the funniest things I’ve ever done in my character. So thank you to all the producers, all my directors. I’ll be back soon."

Novak Djokovic will meet Luca Nardi in Indian Wells 3R

The Serb in action

Novak Djokovic made a triumphant return to the California Desert after a five-year hiatus. The World No. 1, who received a bye in the first round, faced Aleksandar Vukic in the second.

Djokovic kicked things off clinching the first set, which was followed by a close second set going the Australian's way. However, the 36-year-old bounced back in the third set to win the match 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

Djokovic will face lucky loser Luca Nardi, who defeated Zhang Zhizhen, in the third round of Indian Wells.