Scientists in Serbia have named a beetle after the legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic, crediting the insect’s speed, strength, flexibility, durability and ability to survive in a difficult environment.
It has been named Duvalius Dokovici, researcher Nikola Vesovic said. According to local media reports, the insect belongs to the Duvalius genus of ground beetles that are present in Europe.
According to Vesovic, the beetle is a specialised underground Coleoptera beetle—a predator which lost its eyes living deep underground.
“I proposed to name the new species after Djokovic,” Vesovic told Tanjug news agency.
“He is the man who did much for this country. We feel urged to pay him back in the way we can.”
In an Instagram post, the scientist described the insect as “a specialised, blind, subterranean ground beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae) found in a pit near the town of Ljubovija” in the west of the Balkan country.
Vsevic published the discovery in the journal “Annales Zoologi Fennici”,
A few months ago, a freshwater snail in Montenegro was also named after the tennis star.
Meanwhile, after a two-month absence, Djokovic finally returned to action. The 35-year-old Tennis maverick, who has won 21 Grand Slam trophies, recently clinched the Tel Aviv Open—his third title this season—after winning a seventh Wimbledon crown in July.
On Friday, he played against Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals of the Astana Open, which also features fourth-ranked Russian Daniil Medvedev who is also in the last eight. Top seed Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out in the first round.
(With inputs from agencies)
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