Recently-crowned Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic arrived in Bosnia on Wednesday to inau-gurate tennis courts at a ‘pyramid park’ that he regu-larly visits to recharge his batteries.
The tennis star, known for his new-age spiritual interests, is fond of a hill town of Visoko, where thousands flock every year to what some believe are an ancient man-made pyramid complex with healing powers — a claim rejected by scientists.
The 35-year-old Serb, who claimed his 21st Grand Slam title on Sunday, visited the site for the first time in 2020 and called it a “paradise on earth”.
He has returned to the “Bosnian Pyramids of the Sun” complex at least four times, either alone or with his family, to be always warmly welcomed by its founder Semir Osmanagic.
Bosnian businessman and ancient civilisation afficionado Osmanagic said the idea to construct a regional tennis training centre was born during Djokovic’s last visit in March.
“We have agreed to build in our park two courts for training of the top level players, one hard-court and another one with clay surface” Osmanagic told reporters recently.
The idea is to offer players and Djokovic’s friends the chance to train and have free accomoda-tion, he explained.
“We also want to organise here a Pyramid Cup for players from the region and want notably to moti-vate youngsters to play tennis and other sports”.
The inauguration will be marked by all-day events with several exhibition matches, notably by Djokovic and Croatian Ivan Dodig, world number 17.
Upon the arrival, Djokovic visited the new courts and went for a walk into a pine forest, which is a part of the park, with his host, according to an AFP journalist.—AP
