$220,000,000
Novak Djokovic
Net Worth
Born in (City)
Belgrade
Born in (Country)
Serbia
Date of Birth
22nd December, 1987
Date of Death
-
Mother
Dijana Đoković
Father
Srđan Đoković
Children
- Tara Đoković
- Stefan Đoković
About
A child prodigy who had his first tennis racket at the age of 4 and eventually became the first Serbian player to be ranked No.1 by the ATP(Association of Tennis Professionals). The man was often known for his humorous off-court impersonifications of his fellow players, many of which ended up becoming popular on Youtube. Man who has a special love for languages. Djokovic can speak Serbian, English, German, French, and Italian. He is also a member of the "Champions for peace" club; a club that comprises famous and elite athletes who are committed to serving peace in the world through sport. The man who cared for the needy, the people. He once dedicated all his prize money to the people of Serbia during the disastrous floods in 2014, distributed the earnings of $749934 that he won in a tournament in Rome. A fitness freak who eats gluten-free food, refraining himself from alcohol and even dairy products. An animal lover, a person who talks to himself, has appeared in a music video for the song- Hello by Martin Solveig. Djokovic isn’t someone who can be described in a word or a sentence.
Early Life
Djokovic was born in Belgrad, Serbia on 22nd May 1987 to parents Srdan and Dijana. He had a thing for tennis from childhood, although he liked skiing and football. He was presented a tennis racket at the age of 4 by his father and there was no stopping. In the summer of 1993, Former tennis star Jelena Gencic complimented the 6-year-old Djokovic as the greatest talent she ever saw since Monica Seles. She then trained for 6 years before realizing that due to his rapid development, going abroad in search of an increased level of competition was the best option for his future. In September 1999, the 12-year-old moved to the ilić tennis academy in Oberschleißheim, Germany, spending four years there. He began his international career at the age of 14, winning European Championships in Singles, doubles, and team competition. At the junior Grand Slam tournaments, his best showing was at the Australian Open where he reached the semi-finals in 2004.
Road to Success
Djokovic embarked on his professional career in 2003 by entering the ATP World Tour. He mainly played in Futures and Challenger tournaments at the beginning stages of his career, winning three of each type between 2003 and 2005. Djokovic made his first Grand Slam tournament appearance in the 2005 Australian Open where he was defeated by eventual champion Marat Safin in the first round. Djokovic won his first ATP title at the Dutch Open in Amersfoort, defeating Nicolás Massu in the final without losing a set. He moved into the top 20 after he won his second career title at the Moselle Open in Metz and also reached his first career Masters quarterfinal at Madrid during the indoor hardcourt season.
He climbed into the world’s top 10 with his performances at the Masters Series events in Indian Wells, and Key Biscayne. In his next tournament, Rogers Cup in Montreal, he defeated No. 3 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Nadal in the semi-finals, and No. 1 Federer in the final. This was the first time a player had defeated the top three ranked players in one tournament since 1994. Djokovic was also only the second player, after Tomas Berdych, to have defeated both Federer and Nadal since they became the top two players in the world.
In 2008, at the Australian Open, Djokovic reached his second consecutive Grand Slam final, which includes a victory over two-time defending champion Federer in the semis and that made him the youngest player to have reached the semi-finals in all four Grand Slam events. Djokovic defeated unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga(France) in the final to earn his first Grand Slam singles title. He entered his first Olympics in the same year, the Summer Olympics of 2008. Seeded third, he lost his semi-finals to Nadal but then defeated James Blake, the loser of the other semi-final, to win a bronze.
Djokovic ended the year 2009, as the No. 3 for the third consecutive year, having played 97 matches, the most of any player on the ATP World Tour, with a 78–19 win-loss record. In addition to leading the ATP World Tour in match wins, he won 5 out of 10 finals. Djokovic also played a large role in getting his nation to the 2009 World Group. Djokovic won ten tournaments in 2011 which includes Grand Slam tournament victories at the Wimbledon, US Open, and the Australian Open. He also achieved a record-breaking five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles and set a new record for the most prize money won in a single season on the ATP World Tour.
Challenges
Djokovic entered the tennis world with two of the greatest legends playing at their prime, Nadal, and Federer and he had a fair share of matches against each of them. He also faced Murray and Wawrinka in 25 and 24 matches respectively.
Vs Nadal:
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have 55 head-to-head meetings which is an Open Era record between male players, and Djokovic leads 29–26. Djokovic leads on hard courts 20–7, while Nadal has an upper hand on clay 17–7, and they are even on grass 2–2. ATPworldtour.com listed this rivalry as the third greatest rivalry in the last decade. Djokovic is the first player to have at least ten match wins against Nadal and the only person to defeat Nadal seven times consecutively (which he did twice). The 2012 Australian Open final is still the longest Grand Slam final match ever played, for 5 hours and 53 minutes which was one of the head-to-head meetings of these two.
Vs Federer:
They have faced each other 50 times (excluding one occasion when there was a walkover in favor of Djokovic), and Djokovic currently leads 27–23. Djokovic has the upper hand on hard courts 20–18 as well as grass 3–1, whereas they are tied 4–4 on clay. Apart from Nadal, Djokovic is the only one who has defeated Federer in consecutive Grand Slam tournament matches. While Federer ended Djokovic’s 41-match winning start to the 2011 season at the 2011 French Open semi-finals, Djokovic beat him in the following year in straight sets and Djokovic holds the record of having more wins against Federer than any other player.
Failures
The Second half of 2016 hasn’t been kind to Novak. He had been sidelined and was left without a title for 6 months. However, that lifelong dream at Roland Garros appeared to have affected him emotionally and Djokovic didn’t seem to have recovered for a long time and his calendar Grand Slam hopes were dashed by Sam Querrey(America) in the Wimbledon third round. His loss to the Juan Martin del Potro in the first round of the Rio Olympics wrecked him and it also allowed Murray to nibble away at his 9,000 point lead in the rankings and that dethroned Djokovic as world number one. And in 2017, the split with the team and the elbow injury had left him worried without any major title to his name for a long period. He, however, bounced back and was back to No.1 in 2018.
Achievements
Held the No.1 spot in the ATP rankings for 280 weeks and is the current No.1.|ITF world champion - 2011-2015, 2018.|5 year-end championships out of which 4 were consecutive from 2012-2015.
Quotes
- People look up to me as somebody who is able to switch the image of our country from negative to positive.
- Those born into poverty or on the margins of society require our extra support to realize their dreams.