Novak Djokovic in Athens: Why the Olympic tennis gold medallist is playing in Greece

An Olympic champion in Athens makes sense: just ask Novak Djokovic.

The tennis star from Serbia, who won the men’s singles gold medal at Paris 2024, has always had a special affinity for the Olympic Games. So, when the opportunity arose to come to the Greek capital, the ancient birthplace of the Games, it was too good of a prospect to turn down.

Djokovic has been a regular in Athens since the US Open in September, when he paid a visit to the iconic Panathenaic Stadium from the first modern Olympic Games of Athens 1896.

Now, the 38-year-old will have the chance to compete in ‘the glorious city’ for the first time at the 2025 Hellenic Championship, the ATP 250 tournament taking place from 2-8 November.

“I hope that you guys are as excited as I am and all the players to play in Athens, that has the ATP tournament back again after 30 years,” Djokovic said via the tournament’s social media. “There is a great excitement...this arena being one of the most famous basketball arenas in the world, home of Panathinaikos, one of the best clubs in Europe.

“[It's] such a historic venue, and it's a great honour and great pleasure to be here. I'm very excited to see you all fill up this amazing stadium and hopefully watch some world-class tennis.”

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Why is Novak Djokovic playing at the ATP 250 tournament in Athens?

There are a few reasons why Djokovic is playing in Athens this week, the main one being that his family own the tournament. This is the event that usually takes place in his hometown of Belgrade, Serbia, but this year it has been moved to Greece.

The Hellenic Championships will be played at the Telekom Center Athens, which was one of the Olympic venues of Athens 2004. Holding up to 18,000 spectators, the arena hosted basketball, artistic gymnastics, and trampoline at the Games.

Although Djokovic has already qualified for next week’s ATP Finals, this tournament serves as valuable preparation. The year-end finals in Turin, Italy, are held on indoor hard courts – the same conditions as Athens – while the Serbian has not played a competitive match since his Shanghai semi-final exit over three weeks ago.

Djokovic is not the only Olympic medallist competing in the Greek capital. He is joined by Lorenzo Musetti (Paris 2024 men’s singles bronze) and Stan Wawrinka (Beijing 2008 men’s doubles gold) in a solid ATP 250 lineup.

As the tournament top seed, Djokovic begins his Athens campaign in the round of 16 against Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo on Tuesday (4 November).

Tabilo has a rare 2-0 record against the 24-time Grand Slam champion, one of just three players to have never lost in at least two meetings. For Djokovic, he will hope that his Athenian debut will bring him fortune in his competition debut this week.

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