Novak Djokovic was born in Belgrade in 1987. He started playing tennis when he was only four years old. At the age of six, a legendary tennis player named Elena Gencic saw him play. This woman became Novak's first professional coach and worked with him for six years.

After that, young Djokovic was helped to leave for Germany in order to continue to polish his skills. Thus, young Novak Djokovic became a student of one of the German tennis academies. It was within these walls that he studied for the next four years. During this time, he was able to start his international career. So, when Novak was 14, he managed to win the European championship, moreover, in three categories.

In 2007, a talented athlete was able to win five titles, including at the Masters tournaments. Note that there Djokovic managed to beat all the first three rackets. He was able to repeat the record of the legendary Boris Becker, which was set at the very beginning of the 90s.

The following year, Novak Djokovic won, becoming the first Serb to win a Grand Slam tournament. In addition, after such a result, he began to be considered the youngest winner of the Australian Open since Stefan Edberg. On the green continent, Novak was able to win in the semi-finals. Then the match Novak Djokovic - Roger Federer was remembered by many. As a result, he managed to break the opponent's streak of 10 Grand Slam finals in a row.

In 2009, at the Basel tournament, Djokovic managed to win the fifteenth ATP title of his career. In the final game, he again defeated Roger Federer.

The 2012 season began with Novak's Grand Slam victory. In a dramatic final match that lasted nearly six hours, he fought

Novak Djokovic is a tennis player from Serbia. He became a real star thanks to a skillful game, excellent knowledge of four languages. In 2012, Time magazine included him in the top 100 most influential people in the world. Novak is currently the best tennis player in the world. This article will describe his brief biography.

First steps

Novak Djokovic (photo below) was born in the former Yugoslavia in 1987. The boy was sent to tennis when he was barely four years old. In addition to him, the family had two younger children. Parents also gave them to the tennis section. Subsequently, all the children reached a professional level. The hero of this article reached this bar at the age of 16.

Acquaintance with Gencic

In 1993, Novak Djokovic, whose personal life will be described below, met the legendary tennis player, Elena Gencic. She praised the boy's game and took him under her wing. Over the next six years, Elena trained Novak intensively, and then helped him move abroad and continue his career. Thanks to Gencic's connections, 12-year-old Djokovic got into the Pilic tennis academy (Germany). There the boy spent four years. The young tennis player won his first European Championship at the age of 14 - in three categories at once.

Successes and victories

By the age of 28, Djokovic Novak has become the best player in the world. He is a nine-time Grand Slam winner. He has won five ATP tournaments. Novak also has an Olympic bronze medal (2008) and the Davis Cup (2010). To date, the athlete is the only athlete to win the Australian Open for three consecutive years.

Playing style

Novak is a versatile tennis player who performs equally well on all surfaces (clay, carpet, grass and hard). It has a good feed with an average speed of 190 km / h (maximum - 210 km / h). The first ball hit percentage is one of the highest in the world. Djokovic plays in an attacking style. The athlete's forehand is reliable, and the backhand is powerful. It rarely comes out to the grid, but if it does, it is only for sure. Novak always has a game plan and can adapt to any opponent.

Weakness

The hero of this article consistently gets into the finals and semi-finals of major tournaments. But sometimes he does not have enough strength for the last step. Most often this happens when playing with Federer and Nadal, who suits Novak with a demonstrative “whipping”. Perhaps the only weak point of the Serb is endurance. He is physically unable to withstand long fights. As soon as the match drags on, Novak starts to tremble in his legs, and his breath gets out of hand. This problem prevented him from leading the tennis rankings for several seasons in a row.

Personal life

You can talk a lot about Novak's sports glory, but there is one more trait of a tennis player that should be mentioned separately. This is his sense of humor. Djokovic Novak perfectly copies the behavior of his own friends and colleagues. For his humor and passion for practical jokes, the tennis player even got a nickname. It has become a symbiosis of the English word Joke and his surname. In general, in the press and circle of friends he is called the Joker.

Now the athlete lives in Monte Carlo and is married to his old friend Elena Ristic. She recently gave birth to Novak's son Stefan. By the way, Djokovic is an Orthodox Christian and helps many monasteries in his homeland with money. For this, the Serbian Church awarded him the Order of St. Sava.

Novak is also a member of the Champions for Peace organization and actively fights for it along with other athletes. Djokovic is a polyglot and is fluent in four languages ​​- English, Italian, German and Serbian. In his spare time, the tennis player likes to cheer for the Serbian football club Crvena Zvezda.

Tennis racquet

For many seasons in a row, Djokovic Novak, together with Maria Sharapova, represents one Australian brand that produces tennis equipment of very high quality. The athlete himself advertises speed rackets in black and white. The line includes five models with parameters from amateur to professional level. Personally, Novak plays with the Head Utek Decanter Speed ​​Pro racket. It appeared on the market in 2013.

Parodies

Djokovic Novak gained additional popularity thanks to the performance of hilarious parodies of other tennis stars. During his mini-performances, the audience simply “died” with laughter. For example, Maria Sharapova makes a lot of funny movements and screams during the game. In Novak's interpretation, this looks extremely accurate and very funny. And the audience is always happy. Although lately he has rarely been parodying and focuses more on the match itself.

Novak Djokovic is one of the best tennis players in the world, who captivated fans with a brilliant professional game: the young man is versatile and combines both calmness and discretion, and an aggressive style of play on the sports field.

Winner of 13 Grand Slams in singles. During his career he became the first racket of the world four times. In 2012, the athlete entered the top 100 most influential people according to TIME magazine.

Childhood and youth

The biography of the future tennis player began on May 22, 1987 in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, in the city of Belgrade. According to the zodiac sign Gemini. Novak himself admits that he owes his success to his parents, mother Diana and father Srjan, who constantly supported their eldest son in sports endeavors. In the Djokovic family, Novak is the first to devote himself to tennis. His father excelled in another sport, football, and was also a professional pilot.

Novak picked up his first racket when he was four years old. When the boy was six, he was noticed by the famous Serbian tennis player Jelena Gencic. She told his parents that he was one of the most talented kids she had ever met. Therefore, Srdjan and Diana began to take care of their son's sports career. Gencic until 1999 coached the future sports star, as Novak himself admits, Elena devoted a lot of time to him, teaching him the basics of tennis. Often in an interview, an athlete compares the first coach with his second mother.

When the boy was 11 years old, NATO planes began to bomb Belgrade. He celebrated his 12th birthday in a bomb shelter. In an interview with CBS, Novak said that, despite the chaos that was happening around, he tries to remember this time brightly and positively. He says that the children were not driven to school, so he had more time to play tennis. But the war cost him 76 nights, which Novak spent in the basement during the bombing, deprived him of sleep and made him feel fear.

His coach Elena Gencic tried to continue the training of her ward at that time. She was a prominent figure in the Serbian tennis world and easily got permission to play on any court, so the woman looked for safe courts. Every night a new object was chosen for the bombing, so that after some place was “bombed out”, it was possible to train there without fear.

After Gencic, Novak was coached by former Croatian tennis player Nikola Pilic. The 12-year-old boy studied at the Pilic Tennis Academy in Germany, where he transferred in September 1999. Novak spent 4 years there.

Djokovic's first debut in the professional sports arena happened in 2001, when he was 14 years old.

As a teenager, Novak made an impressive start in his sports career: he won single and double titles of the European Championship, and was also a member of the Junior Davis Cup team, which all reached the final in the same 2001.

Novak has two younger brothers, Marco and Joje, who also fell in love with tennis from early childhood. However, they did not achieve such success in this sport as their older brother.

Tennis

It is difficult to count all those titles and titles that belong to this athlete. For example, a tennis player won the Grand Slam competition thirteen times, his first win in this tournament occurred in 2008, then the Serb beat the three-time champion in the semifinals. As of 2018, he is a five-time ATP World Tour final winner, including four in a row, which is a record.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer

Tennis fans note the special style of play inherent in Novak. He is a versatile player who can play equally well on any tennis court, be it turf, concrete, carpet or hard court. Dexterous movements on the court allow the Joker (the nickname of the athlete) to make accurate and powerful blows. Djokovic's tennis backhand stroke (hand turned to the ball with the back side), which is performed with great speed and extreme accuracy, is recognized as one of the best in the world.

Novak Djokovic - forehand and backhand

Due to his agility on the tennis court, Novak is difficult to beat, but the player also has weaknesses, for example, these include physical endurance: sometimes the guy did not have enough strength to take the last step towards victory. If the match drags on, Novak feels tired and unable to focus on the ball.

2015 was a truly successful year for the Serbian tennis player. He won the Australian Open and beat Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final. In his archive, Djokovic also contributed victory at the US Open and reached all the finals of the Grand Slam tournaments.

Kevin Anderson - Novak Djokovic

That year, Forbes published another ranking of the highest paid tennis players in the world. Djokovic finished second behind Roger Federer of Switzerland. The total amount of prize money reached $63 million, while earnings from advertising and partnership agreements amounted to $31 million.

Personal life

In addition to sports qualities, the guy has an incredible sense of humor. Novak Djokovic does not mind showing parodies of his colleagues, which makes the audience in the stadium burst with laughter. For example, he knows how to depict and. The athlete's fans suggest that it was precisely for his cheerful disposition that the tennis player received the nickname Joker, which contains an allusion to his last name and the English word "Joke" - a joke.

Novak Djokovic parodies Maria Sharapova

And Djokovic has an extraordinary mind. He calls himself a fan of languages. Novak is fluent in five languages ​​- his native Serbian, English, Italian, German and French.

In addition to tennis, the young man also loves another sport - football: he is a fan of Italian, Serbian and Portuguese football clubs.

Djokovic is a believer, an Orthodox Christian, he financially helps in the restoration of the oldest churches, for which he received the Order of St. Sava of the first degree. The athlete is a philanthropist and willingly does charity work; Novak has his own foundation, which has been operating since 2007. The organization supports Serbian children and refugees from other countries.

In 2014, Djokovic's home country of Serbia was hit by a flood. Then Novak won a sports competition that took place in Italy. The prize money, which amounted to $ 750 thousand, was transferred by the tennis player to help those affected by a natural disaster.

Novak Djokovic in 2006 began dating Elena Ristic, according to the athlete, the love of his life. In 2014, the couple got married and had a son, Stefan. As the athlete says, his wife is a source of inspiration. However, in 2014, there were rumors on the Web that Novak and Elena broke up. But in the official "Instagram" the tennis player regularly appears joint happy photos of the couple, which allow us to conclude that the spouses are doing well.

In early September 2017, Djokovic became a father for the second time. His wife Elena gave birth to a daughter, whom her parents named Tara.

It is known that Novak is involved in business projects, in 2005 his family created the Family Sport company, and this company also founded the Novak Cafe chain in Serbia. In 2016, Novak and Elena opened a healthy food restaurant, Eqvita Restaraunt, in Monaco. Among other things, Djokovic is the author of the book “The Taste of Victory. 14 days of gluten-free for the perfection of the body and spirit, where he talks about his own diet and proper nutrition and a little about his life.

Novak Djokovic now

In January 2018, Djokovic, unexpectedly for fans at the Australian Open, lost in the fourth round to the Korean Jeong Hyun. He failed to win in any of the three sets. An old hand injury made itself felt. Back in July 2017, she prevented him from completing the season. Then everyone was worried about whether the tennis player would decide to end his career right now.

Anyway, in May, he showed good results at the ATP in Rome, beating Albert Ramos and Kei Nishikori and reaching the semi-finals. But he failed to defeat Nadal. As a result, Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev met in the final.

At the tournament in London, which took place in June, Djokovic improved his results. This time he played in the final match with the Croatian Marin Cilic, but was only the second.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal

In July 2018, Djokovic won Wimbledon for the fourth time. He beat Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals and faced Kevin Anderson in the final. And he also managed to win it. Thus, Novak Djokovic returned to the top ten of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) after winning Wimbledon.

Awards

• Thirteen-time Grand Slam singles winner
• Five-time ATP World Tour final winner
• Davis Cup winner with the Serbian national team
• Bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic is considered to be one of the greatest professional tennis players of today. He has held the top spot for 195 consecutive weeks and has won 13 Grand Slam titles so far. The talented player set many records and most recently scored again at Wimbledon 2018. Novak constantly competes with for the first place, and it was him who defeated him for the last time to get the main prize.

Success of Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic was born in Belgrade in Serbia (part of the former Yugoslavia). He has two younger brothers who are also keen on tennis. Since childhood, the boy was trained by Elena Gencic. Novak first picked up a racket when he was four years old. Talent was noticed immediately, and Djokovic had to leave skiing and football, which he also loved.

In the 1990s Serbia had a difficult economic and political situation. The decision to transfer Novak to Germany was difficult, but the only right one. At the age of 13, the boy went to Munich to train at the academy under the guidance of the famous coach Nikola Pilic. A year later, Djokovic had already become a triple European champion in singles, doubles and team competition, and also won a silver medal at the World Junior Championships. He soon won a gold medal for his country and played well in the Davis Cup. In 2003 Novak turned professional.

First Grand Slam games

In 2005, the tennis player got to the Grand Slam tournaments. The first was the Australian Open, and then Roland Garros. He also made it into the main Wimbledon draw and reached the 3rd round. The experience helped him reach the top 100 and take third place at the US Open. However, there were still 6 years left before the first cult victory.

Since 2006, Novak has been coached by former Slovak tennis player Marian Vajda. It was he who led the future champion to the first victory at the Australian Open. Since then, Djokovic has become known not only for his aggressive style of play, but also for his humorous parodies of his opponents. He showed Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, and many others.

In 2007, Novak ended the dominance of two main rivals on the court: and Rafael Nadal. He played semi-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and won his second Masters title in Montreal. There Novak beat the best players, including Andy Roddick. This trophy took him to third place in the world rankings.

Novak Djokovic and Wimbledon

By 2011, Djokovic was on an impressive 43-game winning streak. In his best form, Novak arrived in London for Wimbledon. There he again defeated Nadal, becoming the first racket of the world. The athlete also won a record five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles and set a new record for the most prize money in one season - $ 12 million.

Since turning pro in 2003, Novak has been wearing . At the end of 2009, the tennis player signed a 10-year contract with the Italian company Sergio Tacchini, although he still chose the German brand as shoes. But after winning in 2011, the company could not afford to keep such a highly paid player. Djokovic soon signed an agreement with Uniqlo.

The next victory at Wimbledon took place in 2014. At that time, eminent tennis player Boris Becker was training with Novak. The champion defeated Roger Federer in the final in five sets. With this victory, he again displaced Rafael Nadal from the first place in the rankings. A year later, Djokovic won another victory over Federer. Along the way, the tennis player received titles in Australia and the United States.

Djokovic's career is still on the rise. In 2017, he joined the team of his coaches. Despite the fact that he is no longer the first racket of the world, in June 2018, Novak again received the so far last Wimbledon title to date, defeating first Nadal and then Anderson.

In terms of sponsorship, he left Uniqlo the year before and signed with Lacoste. Novak became the "new crocodile" by advertising the French brand's clothing, shoes and sunglasses.

Personal life of Novak Djokovic

Today Novak is a resident of Monaco. He speaks many languages ​​including Serbian, English, French, German and Italian. Djokovic met his wife Jelena Ristic at school. They started dating in 2005 and got married in Montenegro in 2014. The couple has two children, son Stefan and daughter Tara.

With his personality, language skills, and willingness to go along with comedy concepts, Djokovic has appeared on entertainment talk shows around the world. He appeared in music videos and The Expendables 2, although he was cut from the final film. Novak was named one of the 100 most influential people of 2012 by TIME magazine. Djokovic is also popular online for his famous parodies.

Since 2007, Djokovic has been involved with the Novak Djokovic Foundation to help disadvantaged children. There he often donated his prize money. Following his historic victory at the 2016 Australian Open, the athlete donated $20,000 to a children's education program in Melbourne.