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Vanessa Bryant applauded Novak Djokovic for the tribute he paid to her late husband Kobe Bryant following his US Open win. On Sunday, Djokovic defeated Daniil Medvedev to clinch his 24th Grand Slam title. Bryant, who won five NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, wore No 24 during his iconic career.
After clinching his 24th Grand Slam win, Djokovic wore a custom shirt had a picture of him and Bryant. Also, "Mamba Forever" was written on the shirt. "Congratulations @djokernole #24 #MambaMentality. Real recognize Real," Vanessa Bryant wrote.
Bryant's wife Vanessa applauds Djokovic's tribute
On January 26th, 2020, Bryant tragically lost his life in a helicopter crash. A few days later, Djokovic won the 2020 Australian Open and became very emotional when paying tribute to Bryant.
As Djokovic was getting closer to winning his 24th Grand Slam, he realized he could do something to pay another tribute to Bryant."I thought of doing this t-shirt eventually, if I get the chance to win the tournament, about seven days ago.
I didn’t share it with anyone until a few days ago when I asked my people to help me out to make this shirt. Kobe was a close friend, we chatted a lot about the winner’s mentality. When I was struggling with injury and trying to make my comeback, work my way back to the top of the game, he was one of the people I relied on the most.
I thought 24 — it is the jersey he wore when he became a legend, of Lakers and world basketball, so I thought it could be a nice, symbolic thing to acknowledge him for all the things he has done," Djokovic said. Meanwhile, Djokovic now has two more Grand Slam titles than Rafael Nadal, who is the second on the all-time Grand Slam record list.