Dubai, UAE - As a tennis player who learned to ski before he ever struck a ball, Novak Djokovic felt more than at home during a visit to Dubai's vast indoor ski mountain during a day off at the Barclay Tennis Championships. The Serbian who grew up at a resort visited Ski Dubai - the world's largest snow park at 3,000 square metres - showing off the skills he learned as a child.
Djokovic inherited his love for skiing from his father, a former champion-turned-restauranteur, and his mother, a former instructor.
"I took up skiing before I learnt to play tennis at the age of four," said the world number three. "Skiing is a great sport, it's a lot of fun and it's my biggest passion. "It's something I have done all my life, but of course it isn't recommended for tennis players to ski because of the possibility of injury.
"I have never been scared on the slopes and have always been careful." With five runs that vary in difficultly, height and steepness Djokovic tested his skills at Ski Dubai, the first indoor ski resort in the Middle East.
"It's great," said Djokovic. "It's Dubai, a hot climate and you come here and it is minus degrees and snowing so you don't have a feeling you are in Dubai. Even though it's a short slope, it is fantastic."
Third seed Djokovic said that in hope of progressing as far as possible this week: "I would recommend this kind of preparation (skiing) to my opponents, especially to go on the more difficult slope."
