Novak Djokovic of Serbia is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players in history. He began playing tennis at the age of four and turned pro in 2003, at the age of sixteen. After steadily rising through the ranks, he won the Australian Open in 2008 and led the Serbian national team to its first Davis Cup victory in 2010.
In 2011, he won three of the four Grand Slams and established a 43-match winning streak on his way to becoming the world’s No. 1 player. With his maiden French Open victory in 2016, he became the first man to hold all four major titles at the same time since Rod Laver in 1969. In his career, Djokovic has won 23 Grand Slam titles, a record in men’s tennis.
Childhood and Early Career
Novak Djokovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, on May 22, 1987. Srdjan and Dijana owned Family Sports, which included three restaurants and a tennis academy. Djokovic’s father, uncle, and aunt were all professional skiers, and his father was also a soccer prodigy, but he was a tennis prodigy as a child. His two younger brothers, Marko (born in 1991) and Djordje (born in 1995), both pursued professional tennis careers after him.
Djokovic began playing tennis at the age of four, and in the summer of 1993, at the age of six, he was spotted by Yugoslav tennis superstar Jelena Gencic at his parents’ sports complex. Gencic worked with Djokovic for the next six years.
For over three months, Djokovic and his family would spend a few hours in the middle of each night in the basement due to the war in former Yugoslavia and the bombardment of Belgrade. The hardships of war, according to Djokovic, pushed him to pursue tennis with even more zeal.
At the age of 13, Djokovic was sent to the Pilic Academy in Munich to compete at a higher level. At the age of 14, he made his international debut in 2001. That year, he won three European titles in singles, doubles, and team play. He won a silver medal for Yugoslavia in a team competition at the World Junior Championship. At the age of 16, he was ranked the 40th best junior tennis player in the world after winning five ITF tournaments.
Djokovic is a member of the Serbian Orthodox Christian church, and he was granted the Order of St. Sava, 1st class, the highest decoration conferred, in April 2011, “for his demonstrated love for the church and the Serbian people.” He is a member of the Champions for Peace club, which was founded by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based worldwide organization.
In 2007, he and his wife Jelena established the Novak Djokovic Foundation to assist impoverished youngsters in Serbia in obtaining an education and resources to have productive and healthy lives.
Djokovic can communicate in Serbian, Italian, German, and English.
Professional Tennis Career
Djokovic became pro in 2003, and he is still one of the most formidable players in men’s tennis 20 years later. In 2004, he won his first ATP Challenger competition in Budapest, where he began as a qualifier. The next year, Djokovic qualified for Wimbledon and advanced to the third round, propelling him into the Top 100.
Djokovic reached the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon in 2007. He won his second Masters championship in Montreal, defeating the top three players (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Roddick), propelling him to third place in the world. He won a bronze medal in singles tennis for Serbia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
For the first time in Serbian history, the Serbian national team won the Davis Cup in 2010. Djokovic went on to win 43 consecutive matches in 2011, the only player in the world to do it. That same year, he won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open, propelling him to the top of the tennis world.
Djokovic won the Australian Open singles title and advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals in 2012. In the semifinals, he was defeated by longtime rival Federer, who went on to win the Wimbledon final against Andy Murray. Later that year, Djokovic met Murray in the final of the US Open. He fought valiantly against Murray, but he lost the match in five sets.
Djokovic won the men’s singles title at the Australian Open for the third year in a row in 2013. That year, he finished runner-up at Wimbledon, losing in the final against Andy Murray. Djokovic was the top-ranked player at the US Open. He easily defeated his opponents in the first three rounds, but he was defeated in the final by Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic won his second Wimbledon title in 2014, defeating seven-time champion Roger Federer in five sets. It was his seventh Grand Slam championship. Djokovic defeated Andy Murray in the 2014 US Open semifinals to reach the finals for the eighth time. He was then defeated in the semifinals by Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who became the country’s first player to reach a Grand Slam final.
Djokovic began 2015 by defeating Andy Murray in the Australian Open following a tense battle on the blue court. It was his fifth Australian Open victory and his ninth Grand Slam triumph. He then defeated nine-time champion Rafael Nadal in the French Open quarterfinals before falling to Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in the final to claim his maiden French crown.
That July, Djokovic was back in the mix at Wimbledon, defeating Richard Gasquet in the semifinals and upsetting Federer to capture his third singles title on the legendary grass courts. In the rain-delayed 2015 U.S. Open final, Djokovic shrugged off a heavy fall early in the match and eventually earned a gritty four-set win over Federer. The victory awarded him his tenth major singles title and gave him a year-long Grand Slam record of 27-1.
The world’s No. 1 dominated the start of the 2016 season, winning his sixth Australian Open victory. Following successive runner-up performances at the French Open, he eventually won his first championship that June.
With the win, he became the eighth man in history to complete the career Grand Slam and the first since Australia’s Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four major titles at the same time. But Djokovic’s quest to win all four Grand Slams in a calendar year came to an end in the first week of competition at Wimbledon, when he was upset by Sam Querry, an American rated No. 41. Later same year, he was defeated in the US Open final by Stan Wawrinka.
2017 Elbow Injury
Following a string of poor results in early 2017, including a second-round exit at the Australian Open, Djokovic attempted to liven things up by hiring tennis legend Andre Agassi as his new coach. That summer, he won the grass court Eastbourne International tournament, but after retiring in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, he stated he would sit out the rest of the season to rest his ailing right elbow.
After losing in the fourth round of the 2018 Australian Open, Djokovic underwent elbow surgery, and while he was shaky in his first events back in March, the champion within showed signs of awakening.
Wimbledon Comeback
Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in a lengthy five-set quarterfinal at Wimbledon in the summer of 2018, before defeating South African Kevin Anderson to win his 13th Grand Slam championship. Djokovic then defeated his 2016 Olympic adversary, Juan Martin del Potro, to win his 14th Grand Slam championship and third US Open title.
Djokovic defeated Nadal in January 2019 to win a record seventh Australian Open singles title and his 15th total major trophy, breaking a tie with Pete Sampras for third all-time. He added to his tally by defeating Federer in a thrilling five-set Wimbledon final that summer, but his run at the season’s last Grand Slam, the U.S. Open, ended in a heartbreaking fourth-round exit due to a shoulder injury.
The following February, Djokovic rallied from a two-set deficit against Austrian Dominic Thiem to win his eighth Australian Open singles title, vaulting him back to the top of the ATP rankings. When professional tennis resumed after a COVID-19-induced suspension, the No. 1 seed was disqualified in the fourth round of the 2020 U.S. Open after unintentionally hitting a line judge with a tennis ball.
Djokic returned to the court in 2021, proving that the previous year’s incidents had not slowed him down. He won three more majors, including his 20th Grand Slam trophy at Wimbledon, and finished second in the US Open. In the final of the Australian Open, he defeated Russia’s Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. It wasn’t as simple to win the French Open.
Djokic trailed Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first two sets of the four-hour final match before rallying to win, 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. His Wimbledon victory over Italian Mateo Berrettini, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, tied him with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slam men’s championships. In successive majors, Djokovic and Nadal have continued to compete for the undisputed record.
Djokovic was irritated by the 2022 season. He did not compete in the Australian or United States Opens because he refused to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Djokovic lost in the quarterfinals of the French Open to Rafael Nadal, who is famed for his supremacy on clay surfaces. His redemption came when he successfully defended his Wimbledon title for the fourth time in a row, defeating Australia’s Nick Krygios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
The Serbian star has performed much better in 2023. He won his tenth Australian Open title, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas while suffering from a hamstring injury. Following his momentous win at the French Open, Djokovic surpassed Rafael Nadal’s record of 23 Grand Slam men’s championships with a three-set sweep against Norwegian Casper Ruud. How Africa had earlier reported on July 16, that Carlos Alcaraz of Spain ended Novak Djokovic‘s four-year winning streak in the 2023 Wimbledon final. The Serbian tennis star was frustrated during the intense match, losing 6-1, 6-7 (6), 1-6, 6-3, 4-6, and even broke one of his racquets during the fifth set.
Olympic Medal and Appearances
Despite his dominance on the ATP tournament circuit, Djokovic has not been as successful at the Olympics. He has represented Serbia in four Summer Games, beginning in 2008 in Beijing. That year, the 21-year-old won a bronze medal in the men’s singles tournament. He finished fourth in London in 2012.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, the No. 1 rated player in the world was knocked out on the second day of competition by Argentina’s Juan Martn del Potro, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2). Despite his tears as he departed the courts, Djokovic told reporters, “Delpo was the better player, and he deserved to win.” That’s what sports are all about.”
He was also let down in Tokyo. Djokovic fell short of a second bronze medal in the pandemic-delayed Games in 2021, losing to Pablo Carreo Busta of Spain.
Coach
Djokovic’s coaches have included former pro tennis players Jelena Gencic, Marian Vajda, Bogdan Obradovi, Andre Agassi, and current coach Goran Ivanisevic.
Gencic was his first tennis coach when he was a kid. According to a 2013 New York Times article, Djokovic said, “Pretty much everything I know on court, I owe to her.” “She is the one who created my game. I did whatever she said. And she kept telling me that I had the talent to be number one. I believed her and continue to believe her.”
Djokovic and Agassi collaborated for a year, from May 2017 to April 2018, before and after which Djokovic collaborated with Vajda. The two collaborated for a total of 15 years before calling it quits in December 2021.
In 2019, Ivanisevic, a retired Croatian tennis player who won Wimbledon in 2001, began working with Djokovic.
Wife and Children
In 2005, Djokovic began dating Jelena Ristic. The couple got engaged in 2013 and married on July 10, 2014, just days after his Wimbledon victory.
On October 21, 2014, they welcomed a son named Stefan, and on September 2, 2017, they welcomed a girl named Tara. The family resides in Monaco’s Monte Carlo.