The ‘Association of Tennis Professionals’ has named Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic the current World No. 1 in men’s singles tennis (ATP). He is regarded as one of the best professional tennis players of all time. He’s been in the top spot for 270 weeks in a row. Djokovic has an enviable record of 17 ‘Grand Slam’ singles titles, which includes eight ‘Australian Open’ titles, five ‘Wimbledon’ titles, three ‘US Open’ titles, and a ‘French Open’ title. He’s a gifted player who’s put in countless record-breaking and world-record-setting performances. From 2011 to 2013, he was the only player in the ‘open era’ to win three ‘Australian Open’ singles titles in a row. He is the third player in history to win four ‘Grand Slam’ titles in the same calendar year, a feat he replicated in 2015. He won a total of six championships in 2015, setting the single-season record. This master has won four consecutive ‘ATP World Tour Finals,’ another ‘open era’ record. He is the only player in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 who has completed a ‘Career Golden Masters.’ The ‘Order of the Republika Srpska,’ the ‘Order of Karaore’s Star,’ and the ‘Order of St. Sava’ are among the many awards and honors he has won.
Childhood and Adolescence
Sran Djokovic and his wife Dijana gave him birth on May 22, 1987, in Belgrade, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. His father was a professional flier as well as a soccer player.
Djordje and Marko, his younger siblings, both play tennis and hope to be professional players.
He was first introduced to the game when he was four years old. In the summer of 1993, he was discovered in his parents’ fast-food establishment at Mount Kopaonik by Serbian tennis star and coach Jelena Geni. His outstanding accomplishment at such a young age astounded her. She continued to mentor the rising talent until 1999.
Geni arranged for him to train with former Croatian tennis player Nikola Pili in order to boost his progress. The 12-year-old youngster was transferred to the Pili tennis academy in Oberschleißheim, Germany, in September 1999, where he spent four years.
He made his international debut at the age of 14 in 2001, winning both the singles and doubles titles at the European Championships. He was a member of the winning team as well. He was a member of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’s ‘Junior Davis Cup’ team that reached the final in 2001. Unfortunately for Djokovic, he lost his singles match.
With a win-loss record of 40-11 in singles and 23-6 in doubles, he had a promising junior career. He failed to win any of the ‘Grand Slam’ tournaments. In February 2004, he was ranked 24th in the world in juniors.
Career of Novak Djokovic
He went pro in 2003 and competed in the ATP Challenger Series and Futures tournaments for the first three years of his career, winning three of each category.
He qualified for his first ‘Grand Slam’ competition, the Australian Open, in 2005. Unfortunately, he was knocked out in the first round by Marat Safin, who went on to win the title that year.
In 2005, he entered the business sector when his family created the ‘Family Sport,’ a company whose daily operations are mostly handled by his father and uncle. The firm purchased the ‘Dutch Open,’ an ATP tournament, in 2009 and brought it to Serbia. Currently, the competition is known as the ‘Serbia Open.’
Marián Vajda, a former Slovak tennis player, has been his coach since 2006. Boris Becker, the former world No. 1 German tennis player, has been his head coach since December 2013.
He won the ‘Dutch Open’ and the ‘Moselle Open’ in 2006, giving him his first two ATP championships. For the first time in his career, he entered the ATP top 20 rankings that year.
At 2007, he won his first ‘Master Series,’ winning the event in Key Biscayne and breaking into the world’s top ten list. In that year’s ‘Roger Cup,’ he defeated the world’s top three ranked players in the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and finals, respectively, Andy Roddick (No. 3), Rafael Nadal (No. 2), and Roger Federer (No. 1). The ‘Olympic Committee of Serbia’ deemed him the best athlete in Serbia that year, and he was also awarded the ‘Golden Badge.’
In 2008, he won his first ‘Grand slam’ singles title at the ‘Australian Open,’ where he defeated defending champion Roger Federer in the semi-finals and unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the finals. That year, he also won his maiden ‘Tennis Masters Cup’ trophy.
In 2010, he was a member of the Serbian team that defeated France to win the Davis Cup.
In 2011, he was at his peak, winning three of the four ‘Grand Slam’ tournaments (US Open, Wimbledon, and Australian Open). He also won a total of eleven events, during which he won 43 consecutive matches. Five ‘ATP World Tour Masters 1000’ championships were among his victories. On July 4, 2011, he reached the zenith of his career by becoming the World No. 1 player. In the ‘ATP World Tour,’ he also set a new record by winning the most money in a single season ($12 million).
In 2012 and 2013, he successfully defended the ‘Australian Open’ championship against Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, respectively, but in 2014, he was defeated by Stan Wawrinka. In 2015, he won the title for the second time, defeating Wawrinka in the semi-finals and Murray in the finals. In January 2016, he successfully defended his championship by defeating Murray one more.
In 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, he won four more ‘ATP World Tour’ finals in a row.
After defeating Roger Federer in 2014, he won his second ‘Wimbledon’ singles title. He recovered his title as defending champion in 2015, defeating Federer once more. In 2015, he won his second ‘US Open’ singles title, extending his record of three ‘Grand Slam’ wins in a calendar year.
On 3 April 2016, Djokovic won the 2016 ‘Miami Open’ for the third time in a row.
At the ‘Kooyong Classic’ exhibition tournament in January 2018, he defeated Dominic Thiem in straight sets.
In October 2019, Djokovic won the ‘Japan Open’ after defeating John Millman in straight sets. He also won the 2019 ‘Australian Open’ in straight sets over Rafael Nadal.
He successfully defended his title against Roger Federer at the 2019 ‘Wimbledon Championships.’ He won his eighth ‘Australian Open’ championship in 2020, defeating Roger Federer in straight sets in the semi-final and Dominic Thiem in five sets in the final.
‘Telekom Srbija,’ ‘FitLine,’ ‘Mercedes-Benz,’ and ‘Seiko’ are among the firms and brands he supports.
‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,’ ‘El Hormiguero,’ and ‘Live with Regis and Kelly,’ among others, have featured him. In addition, he appears in the music video “Hello.”
Personal History and Legacy
He began dating Jelena Risti in 2005 and proposed to her in September of that year.
They married on July 10, 2014, in ‘Sveti Stefan,’ a small island and hotel resort in Montenegro. Their ecclesiastical wedding took place on July 12 at the ‘Church of Saint Stephen.’ Stefan, their son, was born on October 21st of that year.
Apart from Serbian, Djokovic is also fluent in English, Italian, and German.
Work in the Humanitarian Sector
He established the ‘Novak Djokovic Foundation’ in November 2007 to assist Serbia’s impoverished children in receiving proper education and other important resources in order to live a healthy and productive life.
He donated $20,000 to the ‘Melbourne City Mission’ early childhood education program in 2016 to help poor children.
Estimated Net Worth
Novak Djokovic has a net worth of $220 million dollars.