Novak Djokovic targeting ‘medal for my country’ at 2016 Olympics

The Rio Olympics are 'definitely one of the highlights and one of the priorities' for 2016, says Novak Djokovic at the Shanghai Masters.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia speaks at a press conference on Tuesday at the ATP Shanghai Masters tournament. Greg Baker / AFP / October 13, 2015

Novak Djokovic on Tuesday said the Rio Olympics would be one of his top priorities next year as he looks to add a gold medal to his haul of grand slam titles.

Top-ranked Djokovic, a 10-time grand slam-winner, said he had already started planning his schedule for next season with the Rio de Janeiro Games marked out as a major target.

He added that he was considering skipping the second round of the Davis Cup, which falls between Wimbledon and the Olympics. Djokovic won Olympic bronze at Beijing 2008.

“Everybody is looking forward to being part of the Olympic Games. I’m not an exception. I really would love to be part of the Olympic Serbian team,” he told reporters at the Shanghai Masters.

“That’s definitely one of the highlights and one of the priorities of the next season, is to try to get a medal for my country. I’m going to do everything I can possibly to achieve that.”

As well as the 2008 bronze, Djokovic narrowly missed out on honours in 2012 when he lost in the semi-finals to Andy Murray, and was beaten in the bronze medal match by Juan Martin Del Potro.

“The way it looks now, I would be surprised if many top players would play that second round. But, again, you never know,” said the Serb.

“I mean, Davis Cup is also an important competition for us because it’s the only official team competition we have in our sport. Again, between Olympic Games and Davis Cup, I think there is logical conclusion what the player is going to choose, but you never know.”

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