“The only time in my life or probably ever I color my hair unless my daughter wants me to” - Novak Djokovic shares his first Australian Open memory

Novak Djokovic recently recalled his earliest memory of playing at the Australian Open's Rod Laver Arena.

As the defending champion, Djokovic has already been assigned the top seeding in the Australian Open 2024 draw. He is slated to take on a qualifier in the opening round as he begins his hunt for an 11th title Down Under.

Ahead of the event, the Serb chatted with The AO Show podcast and revisited his first appearance in the main draw of the Happy Slam, back in the year 2005. He made the cut after defeating the likes of Stan Wawrinka, Wesley Moodie and Francesco Piccari in the qualifiers.

Djokovic's campaign, however, ended quickly as eventual champion Marat Safin crushed him 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 in the opener. The Serb recalled playing against Safin with his hair dyed.

"I think the first time I was in the main draw was in 2005. I actually qualified and played Marat Safin, who later on was the champion of that tournament and I remember I colored my hair. That day I was like playing at 7 pm, first round, Rod Laver Arena, I was 17 years old or something," Djokovic said (at 31:17).

Djokovic revealed one of the hairdressers in Melbourne encouraged him to make his first Rod Laver Arena appearance a memorable one by coloring his hair.

"I remember I had a haircut and then the lady, the hairdresser was like, ‘Do you want to do something special?’, and I said, ‘What do you mean?’. She was like, ‘If it’s your first time at Rod Laver, you might as well make an entrance that people will remember’. I said, ‘I don’t know what you mean’, she was like, ‘Maybe we will color your hair’," he said (at 31:45).

"I instantly thought about my mother and the amount of criticism I would get from her, which I did, but I said, ‘You know what, let’s do it!’. That was the only time in my life or probably ever I color my hair unless my daughter wants me to one day. So, it was funny yeah! Back in the day, that’s the first memory I have of Rod Laver Arena," Djokovic added.

---

Novak Djokovic: "The Australian tennis summer is so exciting to be part of"

Novak Djokovic

During the same conversation, Novak Djokovic also spoke about his pleasant experience of coming to Australia every year.

"I do love to come here, they call it the Happy Slam for a reason. The Australian tennis summer is so exciting to be part of because the weather is great, Australian people love sports, love tennis, of course, a Grand Slam in Melbourne, one of the four historically biggest tennis events we have in our sport," he said. (at 30:14)

The Serb further recounted getting love from the locals on the streets of Melbourne.

"There are so many people that follow it worldwide but here in Australia, you can feel the buzz, you can feel that Melbourne particularly breathes tennis. People come up to you on the streets and compliment you and your tennis and they follow, it’s great to see that, great to feel that kind of environment and that kind of atmosphere," he added.