Novak Djokovic is, by the numbers, one of the best tennis players in the modern era. He has spent the most weeks — 428 — ranked as the world’s No. 1 player. He holds a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, and he also has an Olympic gold medal. Djokovic emerged onto the tennis scene during the Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal era and won his first Slam in 2008 at the Australian Open when he defeated Federer. Suddenly, there was a new player in the race. He defeated Nadal in 2011 and reached No. 1 for the first time after winning Wimbledon that year. The “Big Three,” as they became known, dominated tennis, racing for majors and titles.
As Djokovic continues to play and remain a force in the sport, one question surrounds him: When will he retire? “The Wolf in Winter,” directed by Jason Hehir, details Djokovic’s time to the very top of tennis. Now streaming on Prime Video, Djokovic is front and center. Hehir took time to reflect on why Djokovic is one of the greatest players and how he captured the tennis star behind-the-scenes in an attempt to humanize him.
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As a huge sports fan, I knew that he was one of the most compelling characters in sports. I knew that he was controversial, outspoken, and polarizing. All of those things check the boxes for what makes an interesting documentary and a deep-dive character study. Novak is still dominating just about everybody — except for a couple of tennis players — at age 39, so I was really interested to see how he grappled with the notion that you can’t be the best dad in the world and the best tennis player in the world at the same time.
People forget that you he lived in a war zone as a child, and it’s in the documentary where he recalls growing up during the bombings of Belgrade, and you know his wife is also, you know she talks about that. What was that like capturing that side of his childhood?This film was never meant to be a definitive, comprehensive telling of his life story. I was interested in drilling down on the crossroads he finds himself at right now. That said, we needed to include some aspects of his backstory to inform viewers about why he’s making the decisions he’s making now and why he acts the way he does. He and his wife Jelena were clear about the fact that much of the behavior we see on the court — the outbursts, the anger, the passion, the emotion — is rooted in unresolved trauma from his childhood. He grew up in a war-torn country, routinely escaping to the basement of his apartment building to avoid NATO fighter jets and bombs overhead. He witnessed atrocious things as a kid. I believe that to this day, those experiences echo in his mind and inform the man he has become.
Do you think that that added to his resilience? What did you learn about his resilience, or what drives that?Novak is one of those athletes who, like a boxer, responds better when they’re punched in the face first. They need to be uncomfortable to excel. Andre Agassi said something similar in the film. When Novak is backed into a corner, that’s when he shines. He needs a wake-up call on the court to be his best, and that’s fueled his rivalry with Roger and Rafa. He wasn’t invited to their party. That was a two-man show—the perfect rivalry between two handsome, athletic stars adored by the tennis world. Then Novak comes along, with a name no one could pronounce, speaking a language no one recognized, from a war-torn country. I think that fueled his drive to equal them and, ultimately, eclipse them.
I was surprised to see how pivotal a voice you made his wife Jelena be in this story. What made you want to use her to help tell the story?It was clear to me that she is Novak’s rock, defending him more fiercely than anyone on the planet—including Novak himself at times. She has a deep, abiding love for him. She’s so articulate, intelligent, and curious, which made her a crucial voice in this story
His retirement is such a tiring subject when he’s playing this well. How did you address approaching it with him?I understand why he is sick of discussing retirement. If it was an anonymous player, and you didn’t tell me who it was and how old they were, you would never consider that this player might retire. You would say, “Oh, this player with the statistics they have and their results in Grand Slams, they must be one of the best players on earth.” And you’d be right if you said that. But then if you said it’s Novak Djokovic, he’s 39 years old. That’s when you say, “Okay, well, how long can you play? When is enough?” I understand why people ask the question the same way that I understand why he is sick of answering it. But we worked on this for over two years together, he pushed back on me a lot when it came to addressing retirement, I pushed back against him and said that it’s imperative for us to discuss this because that’s what’s being discussed when your name comes up, and I think you should take it as a compliment because it’s not that people are sick of you, and it’s not that you’re not performing well on the court and people are embarrassed for you. It’s that people are amazed that you’re still doing this at the level.
What did you learn about the importance of family to to him?Family matters more than anything to him, and and I’ve never seen anyone who loves a sport more than Novak loves tennis. But I think his love for family supersedes even that love. So, and that made it really interesting to see how he’s grappling with these two things that he adores, because he can’t give all of his time and attention to one of them when the other one is still there. There’s a scene when he’s recovering from the during the the Australian Open when he’s recovering from an injury, and he’s telling us that he can’t enjoy it anymore. in the moment, that’s how he felt. I think he probably, once he heals up and and gets some rest, he probably feels differently about that. But I felt it was really important to include that scene because that is how he felt in the that is some pretty incredible access that we’re getting to an elite athlete in a moment where he all of his resources are depleted, and he has to find some way to pick himself up off the ground mentally and physically, and and go out there and do it again in 24 hours.
He’s one of the most misunderstood players in the sport, he’s polarizing. Can you talk about caputring that aspect in your storytelling?Novak would rather be understood than loved. If 100% of people loved him but didn’t truly understand him, I don’t think he’d find that gratifying. He wants people to understand who he is, where he’s from, and why he acts the way he does. Then, people can take it or leave it. You can love him or hate him, but at least you understand him.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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