Djokovic recalls Sharapova date, hungover match

There’s never been a better time to learn about Novak Djokovic than right now. Stuck in quarantine, Djokovic has been going live on Instagram on a regular basis—with mixed results. In a recent Instagram Live with Maria Sharapova, fans found out that the two have been on a date and that Djokovic once competed hungover.

Their dinner together played out many years ago at an exhibition in La Quinta before Indian Wells, long before Djokovic began dominating the tour. With the added motivation, Djokovic won the match and took a young Sharapova out.

"I think we were playing a mixed-doubles against each other and you said that if you win, I would have to get you dinner, and I was like 'OK, whatever. Who is this kid'?" Sharapova said. "And you won and you're like 'We have dinner, tonight. We are going to the Japanese place’.

"I was like 'Are you serious? You and me, going to dinner? Tonight?' So we did. We ended up going to dinner.”

No sparks arose, as Djokovic happily married his longtime girlfriend Jelena in 2014, while Sharapova is dating Alexander Gilkes.

While the tour is shut down, and Sharapova has retired, they'll have the memories of their friendship to cherish, including one very old-school photo.

"It was so funny, because you pulled out this old Kodak camera and you asked the waiter to take a photo," Sharapova said. "This feels like I auctioned off myself for dinner."

In the 75-minute-long chat, the two Grand Slam champions talked about their careers, humble beginnings, quarantine lifestyles, Sharapova's retirement, building a brand, diets, mindsets and a lot more.

"We're not hugging trees on this one," the 33-year-old told Djokovic, as he tried to steer the conversation toward philosophy. Sharapova quickly flipped the topic to cooking at home.

Around minute 31, the subject of if either of them have ever played a match hungover arose. Surprisingly Djokovic said yes—though it was many years ago before he gave up alcohol.

"I've had crazy nights during the Davis Cup weekends," he said. "And I’ve been hungover watching other guys play and then talking trash, knowing that there is no chance for me to play."

But then he recalled a 2011 quarterfinal Davis Cup tie against Sweden in which he didn't intend to play an official match, and ended up in the doubles tie very unprepared.

"I don't know how I ended up playing the doubles match and I wasn’t seeing the ball very clearly," he said. "Let's keep it to that." (He and Nenad Zimonjic lost in straight sets, but Serbia won 4-1.)

Djokovic and Sharapova have crossed paths many times during their careers, for exhibitions, fundraisers and events, and their online chat certainly brought some quality entertainment to everyone trapped at home.