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Djokovic boosted by pet poodle

Herman Mostert

Cape Town - World No 1 tennis star, Novak Djokovic, has breathed a sigh of relief when his pet poodle, Pierre made the trip with him to the US Open in New York.

“The Djoker” - as he’s widely known on the tennis circuit - was highly upset when English authorities refused to allow Pierre into the country to join him for Wimbledon in late June.

However, that did not stop the Serbian from claiming his first Wimbledon title when he defeated his rival, Spaniard Rafael Nadal, in the final in four sets.

Pierre, along with Djokovic’s long time girlfriend, Jelena Ristic, are critical members of the Serbian’s entourage and they were spotted with Djokovic in New York this week.

The impeccably groomed French poodle, along with his owner, even appeared on the front cover of the recent July edition of the men's Vogue magazine.

SkySports News reported on Tuesday that the high-flying Serb is so fond of his beloved Pierre, that he’s even created an account for the dog on the social networking site, Twitter.

@PierreDjoko has 1 152 followers on Twitter and has made 20 tweets to date.

British world No 4, Andy Murray, also has a beloved pet with a Twitter account. Murray's border terrier Maggie May or @maggiemay_hem and @PierreDjoko regularly share conversation threads on the site.

Despite being rivals on the tennis court, Djokovic and Murray are good friends off the court, and have even played doubles together at some tournaments.

Along with being boosted by the presence of his beloved pet, the world No 1 also received a favourable draw for the year’s final Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows - with his first real test only expected to come in the semi-finals, possibly against third ranked Swiss Roger Federer.

Djokovic has enjoyed a remarkable season to date, boasting a 57-2 win/loss record, which includes nine titles.

His only losses came against Federer in the semi-finals of the French Open and against Murray in final at the recently concluded Cincinnati Masters.

The Serb is set to start his title onslaught in New York on Tuesday when he takes on world No 197 Conor Niland from Ireland, and according to truthdive.com, Pierre will be allowed into Arthur Ashe stadium to give his master a moral boost.
 
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