Deprived Of His Poodle, Serial Animal-Lover Novak Djokovic Seeks Companionship From Squirrel

Over the weekend, Hickey alerted us all to Novak Djokovic's torturous separation from his beloved toy poodle, Pierre. Wimbledon being Wimbledon, toy poodles are (understandably) not allowed on the grounds, and Djokovic was "genuinely upset" not to have his good luck charm nearby all week.

Djokovic has found an outlet for his misery: The Awl points out that the 24-year-old, who advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals with a win over Bernard Tomic today, is now — as champions tend to do — spending a lot of time with a squirrel. "This little squirrel comes every day to wish us luck," Djokovic wrote on his website last week. "i tried feeding her, every day she comes closer....maybe one day she eats from my hand!"

Because we have a special talent for spontaneously attempting to create memes that for some reason never quite take off, we decided to do some research. The research involved typing "Novak Djokovic + [type of animal]" into a Google Images search bar. And, lo! It turns out that Novak Djokovic loves animals. For a professional tennis player, Novak Djokovic hangs out with animals at an astounding rate.

"How should i call her?!" he wrote. Then, with this image: "I'm progressing! :) Napredujem!!!!" Indeed.

Novak Djokovic, hangs with a gang of lemurs.

Novak Djokovic cautiously hangs with a falcon.

Novak Djokovic charms a falcon.

Novak Djokovic does quite well with falcons.

Novak Djokovic and girlfriend hangin' with a dolphin.

Novak Djokovic charms a dolphin.

Novak Djokovic might actually have a thing for dolphins.

Novak Djokovic even tolerates moths.

And, of course, there is Pierre. Lovely Pierre.

Thanks for your continued support of Deadspin. Carry on.