Novak Djokovic was born on May 22, 1987 in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia, today Serbia. His mother was Croatian and his father was Serb. He also has 2 younger brothers who, by the way, are also professional tennis players, but not as successful in this sport as Novak.

The first steps in the career

Djokovic started playing tennis at the age of 4 after his father gave him a racket and a small ball. This gift became the most favorite in boy’s childhood. After the parents saw how the eldest son enthusiastically plays with new “toys”, they immediately decided to send him to a tennis camp where there was a special children section.

In 1993, at the age of 6, a promising boy and his family went to a new tennis camp organized by the local tennis club – Partizan. There he was noticed by the legend of Yugoslav tennis – Jelena Genčić. As soon as she saw the game of the young boy, Jelena said that she had not seen such a talented player for a very, very long time.

Genčić immediately set about developing the boy’s abilities and coached him for the next six years. Talented boy developed his skills in tennis faster than anyone else, and his mentor decided that the best option for continuing the young talent’s career would be to move abroad in search of more competition.

At the age of 12 Nowak moved to Oberschleißheim, Germany. He spent 4 years at the new academy. As Novak himself recalls, “it was the most difficult but also the best time in my childhood”.

When he was 14 years old, he began his international career. He won the European Championship in all categories. It was the first time his name was heard throughout Europe.

Debut as a professional at the biggest competitions

Novak Djokovic became a professional tennis player in 2003 when he took part in the ATP Tour. During his early career as a professional he most often played in the Futures and Challenger tournaments. In total, between 2003 and 2005, he won three futures and three challengers. Also in April 2004, 16-year-old sportsman made his debut in the Serbian national team in the Davis Cup qualifiers.

Novak first competed in a Grand Slam tournament in 2005. It was one of the most famous tennis tournaments – the Australian Open. Having passed three rounds of the qualification in the first round of the championship lost to the future champion – Marat Safin, with a score of 3:0 in sets (0:6, 2:6, 1:6).

At the Roland Garros held in France the same year, Djokovic already had a much better start to the championship, defeating an American opponent. In the second game, Novak also started the first set with a win, but was forced to withdraw from the third set due to an injury.

At Wimbledon, the Serb went for two whole laps, in the second round he fought back from 0-2 in sets against the Spaniard Guillermo García Lopez, but in the third round he was stopped by last year’s semi-finalist Sebastien Grosjean, which allowed Djokovic to rise in the rankings in the first hundred.

He also reached the third round at his debut US Open, where the same young and promising Frenchman Gaël Monfils was beaten in the first round.

In February, he reached the semi-finals of the ATP tournament for the first time. He achieved this result at the indoor tournament in Zagreb. In the same month, he reached the quarterfinals of the tourney in Rotterdam.

Sportsman reached the same stage in the same year at the French Open, where on his way he managed to beat Luis Orne, Fernando Gonzalez, Tommy Haas and Gael Monfils. In the quarterfinals, having lost two sets 4:6, 4:6, he refused to continue the fight in the match against Rafael Nadal. At the 2006 Wimbledon tournament, he reached the fourth round.

First succeeded in tournaments

In April 2006, Serb won the Davis Cup for the first time by beating British participant Greg Rusedski.

In July 2006, Novak won his first ATP title at a clay tournament in Amersfoort. In the final, he defeated the Chilean Nicolas Massa with a score of 7:6, 6:4. Less than a week later, Serb reached the final of the tournament in Umag, but this time he could not repeat the success, losing in the final to Stanislav Wawrink. At the US Open, his result was an exit to the third round of the competition.

Also at his first masters in Madrid, he was able to reach the quarterfinals.

In the 2006 season, he managed to gain a foothold in 16th place in the world rankings and received the association’s “Best Progress of the Year” award.

Victories in major tournaments and the path to the top of the world rankings

Novak Djokovic has come a long way to achieve such great victories and results in various tennis competitions. He first won a grand slam in 2008 in Australia. This cup was the first for him and in subsequent years, the Serb won another 20 Grand Slam Cup titles.

This is the second best result for victories in the history of tennis (the first place also belongs to the legendary – Rafael Nadal). The first time a Serbian professional topped the ATP world rankings was in July 2011 after a very successful season in which he won the Australian Open by defeating British Andy Murray in the final, and also won Wimbledon beating the principal rival Rafael Nadal in the final.

In the same year, he won the US Open by defeating the same Nadal in the final. In total, Serb has 88 singles titles.

Here is the full table with the main victories of Djokovic at the Grand Slam tournaments:

All these victories made the player one of the most titled tennis players in the history of this sport.

Personal life

We can talk about the sports glory of sportsmen for a very long time, but one more of his features that drives fans crazy is his excellent sense of humor. He became famous as a parodist who very amusingly copied the behavior of his friends – athletes.

Due to his great passion due to humor and pranks, he even received the nickname “Joker”, which became a symbiosis of his surname and the word “Joke”.

Today, Novak lives in Monte Carlo, he is married to Olena Rystych, whom they have known since high school. They started dating in 2005, and Novak proposed in 2013. The couple has two children – an older son named Stefan. He was born in 2014, and in 2017 Stefan had a sister, her name was Tara.

By the way, he is an Orthodox Christian and financially helps the churches and monasteries of his homeland. He was awarded the highest award of the Serbian Church – the Order of Saint Sava.

Performance in the 2021-2022 season

In early 2021, Serb won the Australian Open for the ninth time in his career. In the final match, she defeated Russian Daniil Medvedev. In June of that year, Serb won the French Open. In the semi-finals, he defeated tournament favorite, 13-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal.

In the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas, he lost 0:2 in sets, but managed to turn the tide of the confrontation and won the match with a score of 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. In July, the Serb won his 6th Wimbledon title.

The athlete became a 20-time winner of the Grand Slam tournaments and caught up in this indicator with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. In July, the Serb won his 6th Wimbledon title. The athlete became a 20-time winner of the Grand Slam tournaments and caught up in this indicator with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

This year was very successful for him, he finished 2021 in 1st place in the ATP world rankings.

2022 kicked off for Djokovic with a pre-Australian Open scandal. The athlete was not vaccinated against coronavirus, as he had this infection in December, and submitted a certificate of medical exemption from vaccination. The Australian authorities first accepted her, then canceled Djokovic’s visa twice.

The Serb was deported and banned from entering for 3 years, so he will not be able to participate in the Australian Open until at least 2025. On February 21, started playing in Dubai but lost in the quarterfinals. At this time, Medvedev reached the semi-finals in Acapulco, and displaced leader from the first line of the world. However, already on March 21, he regained the status of the first racket of the world.

Also in 2022, Novak won yet again at Wimbledon, this victory allowed him to reach a clean second place in the history of grand slam winners.

Preview of future championships

On July 22, it became known that Djokovic will play for the European team at the Laver Cup, the tournament will be held in London on September 23-25 ​​between the teams of Europe and the world, each will have six participants.

Also, despite last year’s scandal associated with the unwillingness to vaccinate against Covid-19 and the subsequent ban on entering Australia period from 3 years, all the same, the country’s authorities went to meet the player and tentatively agreed to Novak’s participation in the Australian tourney in 2023. He himself is very happy with this news and determined to succeeded the championship once again.

Playing style

Djokovic is a versatile player who skillfully combines self-control and an aggressive style of play. The tennis player’s shots from the back line are deep and powerful. His backhand is considered by many to be the best in modern tennis.

Djokovic’s signature blow is a backhand along the line, which he performs at a high pace and with the necessary accuracy. The ability to move around the court is one of his greatest strengths.

As for the player’s weaknesses, in the first seasons as a professional, Djokovic had problems with the serve (the number of double faults was the highest among the top 100 players), but in 2011, after long training, the serve again became his strength.

How to bet on Novak Djokovic

If you are a gambler or just a sports fan, then you can always bet on a player like Novak Djokovic. To do this, you must find his name in the Tennis section, analyze the match and make your choice. Of course, if you decide to place a bet, the first thing you need to pay attention to is the odds.

They may differ on different platforms, but as practice shows, the best odds and the largest number of events are offered by such betting companies as: Parimatch, Excitewin, Betfair, Rabona, Casumo. But always remember whether or not to bet is your choice.

Novak Djokovic is one of the best and most decorated players in tennis history. All opponents know how strong this player is and treat him with great respect. Endless training and, of course, unimaginable talent helped him become a sports legend.

All this suggests that Novak in future seasons will be one of the leaders in all competitions. And we – sports fans can only look forward to the next tournaments with his participation.