--- title: Novak Djokovic Serves Tennis Ball at Stephen Colbert description: US Open champion Novak Djokovic hits balls at Stephen Colbert on The Late Show canonical: https://time.com/4034635/late-show-stephen-colbert-novak-djokovic/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-15T14:20:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:00.444Z og:title: Novak Djokovic Serves Tennis Ball at Stephen Colbert og:description: US Open champion Novak Djokovic hits balls at Stephen Colbert on The Late Show og:url: https://time.com/4034635/late-show-stephen-colbert-novak-djokovic/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd91d9ddac966c2c5/6988639fcd1bbaff6c6fd2ac/screen-shot-2015-09-15-at-10-01-14-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2015-09-15 at 10.01.14 AM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Novak Djokovic Serves Tennis Ball at Stephen Colbert twitter:description: US Open champion Novak Djokovic hits balls at Stephen Colbert on The Late Show twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd91d9ddac966c2c5/6988639fcd1bbaff6c6fd2ac/screen-shot-2015-09-15-at-10-01-14-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Novak Djokovic Serve a Tennis Ball Right at Stephen Colbert  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 15, 2015 2:20 PM UTC   by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 15, 2015 2:20 PM UTC On _The Late Show_ Monday night, the U.S. Open Men’s Singles Champion Novak Djokovic showed off the trophy he won by defeating Roger Federer the day before and defended his title by serving a tennis ball right at Stephen Colbert. All the comedian had to protect himself with was a version of Captain America’s shield that Marvel [gave him](http://www.thewrap.com/stephen-colbert-explains-origins-of-that-captain-america-shield-on-colbert-report-set-video/). The Serbian tennis player, who can serve at a speed of up to 130 mph, hit the shield on the first try — aced it, if you will. And, luckily, he did not seem to injure the late-night host. ### See the Best Outfits From the 2015 U.S. Open  Serena Williams of the United States returns a shot to Roberta Vinci of Italy during their Women's Singles Semifinals match on Day Twelve of the 2015 US Open on Sept. 11, 2015. Clive Brunskill—Getty Images  Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic returns a shot against Richard Gasquet of France during their Men's Singles Fourth Round match on Day Eight of the 2015 US Open on Sept. 7, 2015. Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  Roger Federer of Switzerland returns a shot to Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany during their Men's Singles Third Round match on Day Six of the 2015 US Open on Sept. 5, 2015 . Elsa—Getty Images  Andrea Petkovic of Germany returns a shot to Johanna Konta of Great Britain during their Women's Singles Third Round match on Day Six of the 2015 US Open on Sept. 5, 2015. Clive Brunskill—Getty Images  Simona Halep during her 2nd round women's singles match against Kateryna Bondarenko on Sept. 3, 2015, Jon Buckle—Empics Sport  Camila Giorgi, of Italy, returns a shot to Sabine Lisicki, of Germany, during the second round of the U.S. Open in New York on Sept. 3, 2015, Adam Hunger—AP  Tomas Berdych, of the Czech Republic, reacts after defeating Jurgen Melzer, of Austria, in the second round of the U.S. Open on Sept. 3, 2015. Kathy Willens—AP  Nicole Gibbs, of the United States, prepares to serve to Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament on Sept. 3, 2015. Adam Hunger—AP  Serena Williams of USA competes on Day 1 of the 2015 US Open in New York on Aug. 31, 2015. Jean Catuffe—GC Images  Alexander Zverev of Germany returns a shot against Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany during their Men's Singles First Round match on Sept. 1, 2015. Alex Goodlett—Getty Images  Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts after defeating Diego Schwartzman of Argentina during their Men's Singles Second Round match on Sept. 2, 2015. Clive Brunskill—Getty Images  Venus Williams of the USA celebrates her match win over Irina Falconi of the USA on Sept. 2, 2015. Elsa—Getty Images  Sabine Lisicki of Germany returns a shot against Camila Giorgi of Italy during their Women's Singles Second Round match on Sept. 3, 2015 . Al Bello—Getty Images  Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a return to Steve Darcis of Belgium during the men's singles round two match on Sept. 3, 2015. Don Emmert—AFP/Getty Images  Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark reacts against Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic during their Women's Singles Second Round match on Sept. 3, 2015. Al Bello—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4034635/late-show-stephen-colbert-novak-djokovic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4034635/late-show-stephen-colbert-novak-djokovic/"},"headline":"Watch Novak Djokovic Serve a Tennis Ball Right at Stephen Colbert","datePublished":"2015-09-15T14:20:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:47:00.444Z","description":"The Serbian tennis player can serve at a speed of up to 130 mph","url":"https://time.com/4034635/late-show-stephen-colbert-novak-djokovic/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd91d9ddac966c2c5/6988639fcd1bbaff6c6fd2ac/screen-shot-2015-09-15-at-10-01-14-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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