I applaud them for the effort: Djokovic on SanTina

In an exclusive interview to the Times of India on the sidelines of the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championship, current World No.1 Novak Djokovic opened up about his passion for India and the unbeaten run of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis.

Sania and Hingis have been on an unbeaten run since last August and won 10 titles on-the-trot. The pair is currently in Doha for the Qatar Open and are all set to break their next target of 44-wins, which was set by Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova in 1990. However, the duo is a long way away from breaking the ultimate record of 109 wins, which was set by Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver in 1983.

The Serbian also talked about the difficulty in continuing an unbeaten run after going through 43 matches without defeat in 2011.

“When you are on a streak you don’t want to lose. I’ve been in streaks a couple of times in my career. In 2011, when I went 43 matches without being defeated, I got asked so much about the streak. When would it be over? I always answered the same way. My focus was not about when the streak would be over, but how long would it go on,” Djokovic said.

“The character and personality of most people I met in India stayed with me. I spent only three days there, but it made a lasting impression. I saw a sense of positivity among people, which was evident from the first words of welcome. This is the most important thing in life.

“It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or not, or whatever the state or the country’s economy. There aren’t many places in the world where you feel the way you feel in India. That’s because of the culture, its great history,” the Serbian said.