Djokovic excited to be with Serbian teammates, looking forward to new Davis Cup

PLEASE NOTE: CONTAINS WHITE FLASH BETWEEN EDITS

SHOWS: MADRID, SPAIN (NOVEMBER 17, 2019) (KOSMOS TENNIS - NO RESALES)

1. NOVAK DJOKOVIC SPEAKING TO REPORTER ABOUT DAVIS CUP

2. (SOUNDBITE)(English) NOVAK DJOKOVIC AFTER BEING ASKED WHY HE FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR HIM TO PLAY IN DAVIS CUP, SAYING:

"Well it was important because I like playing for Serbia, I love being part of the national team. I like being part of the team where I have my long time friends on and off the court, the guys I grew up with. I love the fact that we have, actually, the team that won Davis Cup back in 2010, we have Nenad Zimonjic as a captain and then we have Viktor (Troicki), Janko (Tipsarevic), and myself as players alongside the leaders of the next generation of Serbian tennis, which are (Filip) Krajinovic, and (Dusan) Lajovic, so I think we have a really strong team. It's nice to see that everyone is healthy, is doing well, of course it's been a long season for all of us, schedule is not the best, obviously it's the end of the year, but we are excited, as I said, to play for our nation and we always draw the strength and necessary energy to really play our best and feel our best when we represent our country."

3. WHITE FLASH

4. (SOUNDBITE)(English) NOVAK DJOKOVIC SAYING:

"Obviously the format change has, I think, allowed us to share the stage with 18 other teams, almost 90 players, so it's gonna be super exciting because, you know, there are so many ties, there's gonna be a lot of matches, there's gonna be a lot of scouting, and hopefully, as well, gonna be a lot of fun and good success."

STORY: After last week's struggles at the ATP Finals, Novak Djokovic said Sunday (November 17) he was healthy and excited to join his Serbian friends to take on the challenge of the new format Davis Cup.

Current world number two Djokovic joins Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki, Filip Krajinovic, and Dusan Lajovic on the Serbian side with Nenad Zimonjic captain.

Serbia claimed it's only Davis Cup title in 2010 with Djokovic, Troicki, Tipsarevic and Zimonjic defeating France in the final.

Serbia is one of eighteen nations in Madrid for the Monday (November 18) start of the heavily revamped Davis Cup.

The week-long soccer World Cup-style Davis Cup Finals will be the biggest shake-up the 119-year-old team event has ever had and is being bankrolled by Barcelona defender Gerard Pique's investment firm Kosmos to the tune of $3 billion dollars over 25 years.

(Production: David Grip)