Novak Djokovic

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 young Djokovic was a tennis prodigy. His two younger brothers, Marko (born in 1991) and Djordje (born in 1995), both followed his path by pursuing professional tennis careers.Djokovic began playing tennis at age 4, then in the summer of 1993, at 6 years old, Djokovic was spotted by Yugoslavian tennis legend Jelena Gencic at his parents’ sports complex. Gencic 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, Djokovic was sent to the Pilic Academy in Munich to pursue higher levels of competition. In 2001, at age 14, he began his international career. He ended that year 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.

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