Novak Djokovic fires brutal five-word warning to son Stefan, 11, over tennis 'dream'

Novak Djokovic delivered a brutal warning to his son Stefan as he discussed his dream of playing doubles alongside the 11-year-old. The 24-time Grand Slam champion has been forced to end his season early due to a shoulder injury after winning the Hellenic Championship at the weekend.

Djokovic's son is tennis-mad and joined his father at Wimbledon in the summer. The youngster was spotted in the tennis icon's box during his victory over Alex de Minaur. Stefan also collected autographs during his trip to the All England Club and may attempt to follow in his dad's footsteps and forge a career in the sport.

Djokovic addressed a host of issues during an appearance on this week. And discussing his son's tennis prospects, the 38-year-old explained: "I feel excited and frightened at the same time.

"I think he's got some great genes in him. He's good. I want to be his father, I don't want to be his coach."

The Serbian added: "I am slowly trying to introduce the world of tennis and sports and all of these things to him and I can't throw everything at him at once - I'm picking and choosing the right moments.

"So if this is the journey that he chooses to have, I'm going to be one million per cent behind him and supporting him every step of the way in whatever shape or form.

"He's going to have, like [Cristiano] Ronaldo's son, a big mountain to climb, mostly because of other people. But if that's the way, yeah, let's go."

Turning his attention to the prospect of playing either doubles with Stefan or singles against him in the future, the veteran then explained: "I mean that's a dream. Play doubles with him. To play against him? Oh no, I wouldn't want that. Of course I wouldn't let him beat me."

And the iconic tennis star took the opportunity to fire a warning to his oldest child as he added: "I would kick his a**."

Djokovic ended his season with Hellenic Championship silverware in Greece after defeating Lorenzo Musetti in the final.

That tournament was played near to the player's new home, with Djokovic moving to Athens with his family earlier this year.

But before that event, he denied Stefan a trip to China after his son pleaded with him to attend the Shanghai Masters.

"My son, he plays tennis more and so he follows what's going on," Djokovic revealed last month. "He was really insisting on travelling with me to China. He wants to travel with me everywhere, but he has to do school, and it's not that simple. But he's really in love with tennis and the sport."