Novak Djokovic visits kids village during day off at Italian Open, advises them to "love the passion and joy" of playing tennis

Novak Djokovic, who had the day off following his second-round win at the 2022 Italian Open, spent some time with children at the Kids Village in Rome on Wednesday.

The 34-year-old was seen interacting with the children and teaching them tennis shots.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion also passed on some valuable tips for beginners, touching upon the importance of passion and love for the game.

"The first thing is important to remember is why you start playing tennis, love the passion, the joy of having the racket in your hand because this is a game that you love and you love to be on the court and after you have to work a little bit no. Love it."

Incidentally, the Serb also spent time with kids on his previous visits to Rome, as is evident from this social media post from 2017.

Novak Djokovic faces Stan Wawrinka in last 16 at Italian Open

The Serb in action at the Italian Open in Rome

Novak Djokovic, who is chasing his first title of the year ahead of the French Open, defeated Aslan Karatsev of Russia in his opening match of the tournament.

The Serb will take on Stan Wawrinka in the third round of the Italian Open on Thursday. The former World No. 3, who lost in the first round of the 2022 Monte-Carlo Open, is making a comeback following a couple of surgeries on his left foot last year.

The Serb leads 19-6 in the head-to-head against the 37-year-old, but the Swiss has won their last two encounters.

Wawrinka got the better of Djokovic in the final of the 2016 US Open while the Serb had to retire during their round-of-16 clash at the 2019 US Open, which was the last meeting between the two prior to Thursday's match.

Wawrinka has accounted for Reilly Opelka and Laslo Djere thus far in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome.

Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, has been making steady progress after missing out on a chunk of early-season tournaments due to his vaccine status.

The Serb did reach the final of the Serbia Open where he lost to Andrey Rublev, while Carlos Alcaraz halted Djokovic's progress at the Madrid Open by winning a thrilling three-set semifinal.

Djokovic has won the Italian Open five times and reached back-to-back finals in 2020 and 2021. He emerged victorious in 2020 against Diego Schwartzman but lost to arch-rival Rafael Nadal in the title clash last year.