"Most umpires understand the words, we have to use the slang" - Novak Djokovic jokes about how he's getting away with cursing in Serbian on court

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic jokingly shared how he gets away with cursing in his native Serbian on the court.

Djokovic is aiming to win his record-seventh Paris Masters title at the 2023 edition of the tournament, which started on October 30 and will run till November 5.

The Serb is the top seed at the last Masters 1000 tournament of the year, with Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev being the second and third seeds, respectively. He will face either Miomir Kecmanovic or Tomas Etcheverry in the second round, having received a first-round bye.

Prior to that, the 36-year-old spoke to Eurosport about how his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, and his team are looking for new ways to keep his motivation high the whole time.

"Goran and the rest of the team are trying to find new ways to motivate me. They haven't been succeeding much so far. We have a lot of fun, we are great friends. We have a professional relationship," Djokovic said.

Novak Djokovic was quick to point out that they have a problem since they need to tweak their Serbian and Croatian swearing terms slightly because most umpires now recognize them. However, this is not always the case, as creativity can be lost in the heat of the moment.

"The problem we have, because of the success of Croatian and Serbian players in the last 30 years or so, we unfortunately have a situation where most of the umpires understand the swearing words," the Serb said.

"So we have to play around a little bit, we have to use the slang, create new words, but when you're p***** off you don't think about creating," he added.

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Novak Djokovic - "I'm happy with 24 Grand Slams but people in my country, they say why not go for 25, 30"

Novak Djokovic pictured with his 24th Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open

Novak Djokovic won his record 24th Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open in September, defeating Russian Daniil Medvedev in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3. With this victory, he equaled Margaret Court's Major count and surpassed Serena Williams (23).

In the same interview with Eurosport, the Serb discussed adding another Grand Slam to his resume, saying:

"I'm happy with 24 but people in my country they say why not go for 25, 30. I say if it was that easy, it would be great."

When told that he makes winning Majors look like a cakewalk, the 36-year-old said:

"I don't know how it looks, but I know how it feels. You've really got to earn. I feel like a cat sometimes, with nine lives. Every time I play a Grand Slam, I lose one life."