"Thought I'd try one of the other sports"- Novak Djokovic takes Paris Olympics 2024 preparation to the next level by trying his hands at rowing

Outside of tennis, Novak Djokovic has always shown his fondness for other sports. As part of his intense preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics, he surprised fans by trying his hand at rowing.

Djokovic will be participating at the Olympic Games for the fifth time in his career, as he will be representing Serbia alongside 34-year-old Dusan Lajovic. The 24-time Grand Slam winner is already in Paris and has been sharing moments from his training sessions on Instagram. His compatriot, Lajovic, is yet to arrive in Paris as he is currently competing at the Croatian Open.

On Monday, Djokovic made a post on his Instagram feed that featured him sitting on a rowing boat and holding a paddle.

“To get in the zone for @olympics, thought I'd try one of the other events,” he captioned the post.

In four appearances at the Olympics, the former World No.1 has managed to clinch only one medal. This was at his first appearance at the tournament in Beijing in 2008, where he defeated James Blake to take home the bronze medal. He represented Serbia again at the 2012 London Olympics but was outclassed by Argentina's Juan Martín del Potro. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he suffered a similar fate at the hands of Spain's Pablo Carreño Busta, who defeated him in the bronze medal match.

The only time the 37-year-old didn't reach the semifinals of the Olympic Games was in Rio in 2016 when he was knocked out in the first round by Juan Martín del Potro.

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A brief look at Novak Djokovic's form ahead of 2024 Paris Olympics

Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon 2024 (Image via Getty)

With the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics taking place on Friday and tennis matches starting on Saturday, much attention will be on Novak Djokovic as he aims to win the gold medal that has eluded him throughout his career.

Djokovic enters the Olympic Games just weeks after reaching the final of the Wimbledon Championships, where he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz.

This season, the World No. 3 has yet to win a title and struggled with form and fitness during the first half of the year. Notably, he was struck on the head by a water bottle at the Italian Open and sustained an injury to his right knee that required surgery in June. However, he managed to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open, Monte-Carlo Masters, and Geneva Open, as well as the quarterfinals of the French Open.