Novak Djokovic embraces soccer icon Lionel Messi winner of the Ballon d'Or

• Tennis News
• Novak Djokovic

From one icon to another, from one sports legend to another: Novak Djokovic met Lionel Messi at the Ballon d'Or award ceremony in Paris. The Serbian champion hugged MLS star Inter Miami, who won the award for the 8th time in his amazing career.

Messi won everything with Barcelona, before moving first to PSG and then to the United States. In 2022, the soccer star dragged his Argentina to victory at the 3rd FIFA World Cup, in Qatar. During the ceremony, Djokovic presented the women's Golden Ball to the Spanish Aitana Bonmati, 2023 World champion with Spain.

Here is the video shared on X by @Intermiainfo:

Dos grandes #Djokovic y #Messi se saludanpic.twitter.com/c09uwFdkaQ — Inter Miami Info Fan (@Intermiainfo) October 30, 2023

Novak Djokovic trained with Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz seems to have partially overcome the foot problem that prevented him from taking part in the ATP 500 tournament in Basel.

"I have good news! I'm getting better with each passing day and I'll be playing in Paris-Bercy and I'll be in Turin for the ATP Finals! I'm excited to finish the year strong! I'd be lying if I said I'm 100%. At this point in the season , after a long year, I think all the players have some problems.

I feel like that. I feel a bit of pain, but in recent weeks I have recovered quite well. I'm here and I feel good enough to get a good result. I don't I know who has more chances to win between me and Novak Djokovic. Jannik Sinner, for example, is playing incredible.

Daniil Medvedev too. There are many great players and I think the table is open. Many tennis players can win the tournament. I think that training with the best is the most appropriate way to prepare for the tournament. We talked before we arrived in Paris about the possibility of training together one day, and it happened yesterday.

He won! I'm really excited to play this tournament. I don't have good memories, but I'm trying to forget everything that happened in previous years. I hope things are better this year. I'm not thinking about the past, I'm just focused on the present."