Novak Djokovic has rubbished reports of a brewing feud with world No.1 Jannik Sinner after a one-word answer he gave in his recent interview with GQ raised eyebrows.

In a word association segment, Djokovic was asked to describe several rivals in one word.

For Roger Federer, he said “elegance”. For Rafael Nadal, “tenacity”. Carlos Alcaraz, “charisma”.

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But for Sinner, Djokovic said “skiing”.

Some fans and pundits took the answer to be a swipe, or a sign of disrespect from the Serbian to the young Italian.

But speaking in Serbian ahead of the Australian Open, Djokovic dismissed the suggestion and explained the pair shared a passion for skiing and had discussed going on a trip together.

“Yes, I’ve seen it on social media that it’s being made into some kind of drama or a story, like I humiliated him or I’ve intentionally shown disrespect toward him. That’s ridiculous,” he said.

“It was one of those quiz type of interviews where you have to think of something in a second.

“Sinner’s name came up and I had this image in my head of him skiing, because I saw he was skiing somewhere. Also, the two of us talk about skiing always, how we’re going to ski together, et cetera.

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“That’s why I said ‘skiing’, not because I don’t respect his achievements in tennis, on the contrary.”

Djokovic grew up in the Kopaonik mountain range in central Serbia, where his parents ran a fast-food outlet. When he wasn’t playing tennis, he was often on the slopes.

Sinner ended Djokovic’s run at last year’s Australian Open in the semi-finals. The pair are 4-4 in their career head-to-head, but Sinner has won four of their last five match-ups.

“It is as clear as day that the way he is dominating is worthy of every praise – both his playing style and the level of play,” Djokovic continued.

“He’s got all the attributes I’ve mentioned in others (Federer, Nadal, Alcaraz), and now people make it seem like I am disrespecting him. Rubbish.”