Novak Djokovic biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Novak Djokovic was born on May 22, 1987 in Belgrade, Serbia. Father Srdjan and mother Dijana owned the company Family Sports, which had three restaurants and a tennis academy. Djokovic's father, uncle and aunt were all professional skiers, and his father also excelled at soccer, but Djokovic was a tennis prodigy.

In the summer of 1993, at 6 years old, Djokovic was spotted by Yugoslavian tennis legend Jelena Gencic at his parents' sports complex. Gencic then worked with Djokovic for the next six years. During this time, the war in former Yugoslavia and the bombing of Belgrade meant that, for almost three months, Djokovic and his family would spend a few hours in the middle of each night in the basement. Djokovic has said that the hardships of war drove him to pursue tennis with even greater determination. At 13, he was sent to the Pilic Academy in Munich, Germany, to pursue higher levels of competition. In 2001, at age 14, he began his international career.

Commercial Success

The 14-year-old Djokovic ended 2001 as a triple European champion in singles, doubles and team competition. He won the silver medal at the World Junior Championship in a team competition for Yugoslavia. At 16, after winning five ITF tournaments, he was ranked the 40th best junior tennis player in the world. In 2004, he won his first ATP Challenger tournament in Budapest, where he started as a qualifier. The following year, he qualified at Wimbledon and reached the third round, moving him up the rankings and into the Top 100.

In the 2007 season, Djokovic played the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon. He won his second masters title in Montreal, beating the Top 3 players—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick—which made him No. 3 in the world. He competed for Serbia in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and won a bronze medal in singles tennis. In 2010, the Serbian national team clinched the Davis Cup trophy for Serbia for the first time in history. Djokovic went on to win 43 matches in a row in 2011, the only player in the world to achieve such a run. That same year, he won Wimbledon and became the world's No. 1 tennis player.

In 2012, Djokovic won the Australian Open singles title, and made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon. He was beaten in the semifinals, however, by longtime rival Roger Federer—who went on to win the Wimbledon final against Andy Murray.