Novak Djokovic - Serbian Tennis Champion

In January 2008, he won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. After a straight sets win over World No. 1 and defending champion Roger Federer in the semifinals, Djokovic won the final in four sets against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He thereby became the first player representing Serbia ever to win a Grand Slam singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached all four Grand Slam semifinals.

Novak Djokovic was the runner-up at the 2007 US Open and has reached five Masters Series finals, winning four of them. He also reached the semifinals of the 2007 and 2008 French Opens and the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.

Biography

Djokovic was born May 22, 1987 in Belgrade, Serbia, then Yugoslavia. He was born to father Srđan and mother Dijana, and is the oldest of their three sons. His two younger brothers, Đorđe and Marko, are also tennis players with professional aspirations. Djokovic started playing tennis at the age of four, and was spotted by Yugoslav tennis legend Jelena Gencic, who stated "This is the greatest talent I have seen since Monica Seles."

At twelve, he spent three years at Nikola Pilić's tennis academy in Munich, and at fourteen his international career began as he won European championships in singles, doubles, and team competition. He resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco and is coached by a former Slovak tennis player, Marian Vajda. Novak Djokovic speaks Serbian, German, Italian, and English.

Djokovic often does humorous off-court impersonations of his fellow players, many of whom are his friends. This became evident to the tennis world after his 2007 US Open quarterfinal win over Carlos Moya, where he entertained the audience with impersonations of Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova.

In February 2008, Novak Djokovic conveyed his support via video link to a mass rally in Belgrade against Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia.

Tennis career

2003-2005

In the beginning of his professional career, Djokovic mainly played in Futures and Challenger tournaments, winning three of each type.

2006

He participated in the 2006 Hopman Cup with fellow Serbian player Ana Ivanovic, with the pairing narrowly missing the final.

He continued his great run in 2006 by shooting the rankings. In May 2006, various reports appeared in the British media about Djokovic's mother Dijana reportedly approaching Britain's Lawn Tennis Association about her son joining British tennis ranks and the possibility of their entire 5-person family moving from Serbia to live in Britain. All the rumours didn't affect Djokovic's play, however. He started 2006 ranked 78th, but with an excellent path to the quarterfinals at the French Open and a fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon, he found himself in the top 40. Just three weeks after Wimbledon, he won his maiden title in Amersfoort without losing a set, defeating Nicolas Massu in the final. Djokovic won his second career title in Metz, and with this victory moved into the top 20 for the first time in his career. At the US Open, Novak Djokovic lost in the third round to former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.

2007

Novak Djokovic began the year by winning in Adelaide, defeating Australian Chris Guccione in the final. At the Australian Open, he lost in the fourth round to eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets.

His performances at the Masters Series events in Indian Wells, California and Key Biscayne, Florida, where he was the runner-up and champion respectively, pushed him well into the world's top ten. In those tournaments, which were his first and second Masters Series finals, he defeated Andy Murray in the semifinals without dropping a set in either match. Novak Djokovic lost the Indian Wells final to Rafael Nadal but defeated Nadal in the Key Biscayne event before defeating the resurgent Guillermo Canas in the final. He later played in the Masters Series Monte Carlo Open where he was defeated by David Ferrer in the third round in straight sets. He reached the quarterfinals of both the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome and the Masters Series Hamburg but lost to Carlos Moya and Nadal, respectively. At the tournament in Estoril, Novak Djokovic defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the final.

At the French Open, Djokovic reached his first Grand Slam semifinal ever, where he lost to eventual champion Nadal.

During Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic won a five hour quarterfinal against Marcos Baghdatis 7–6(4), 7–6(9), 6–7(3), 4–6, 7–5. The match lasted just 5 minutes shy of the longest singles match in a single day in Wimbledon history. In his semifinal match, he was forced to retire against Nadal due to a back injury and foot problem.

Djokovic then won the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Montreal. He defeated World No. 3 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, World No. 2 Nadal in the semifinals, and World No. 1 Federer in the final. This was the first time a player had defeated the top three ranked players in one tournament since Boris Becker in 1994. And Djokovic was only the second player, after Tomas Berdych, to have defeated both Federer and Nadal since they became the top two players players in the world. After this tournament, Bjorn Borg stated that Novak Djokovic "is definitely a contender to win a Grand Slam." However, the following week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Novak Djokovic lost in the second round to Carlos Moya in straight sets.

He nevertheless reached the final of the U.S. Open. Djokovic had five set points on serve in the first set and two against serve in the second set but lost them all before losing the final to top-seeded Federer in straight sets. On his way to the final, Djokovic won a nearly five hour second round match against Radek Stepanek 6–7(4), 7–6(5), 5–7, 7–5, 7–6(2).

Novak Djokovic returned after a minor injury to Vienna, to beat Stanislas Wawrinka in the final 6–4, 6–0 and take his 5th title of the year. The win enabled Djokovic to gain closer on Nadal in the ATP Tour Rankings. Djokovic's next tournament was the Madrid Masters, where he lost to David Nalbandian 6–4, 7–6(4) in the semifinals. At the Paris Masters, he was upset by Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.

Novak Djokovic, then assured of finishing the season as World No. 3, went to Shanghai for the Tennis Masters Cup, being the first player to arrive. He was also the first player to exit the tournament, losing all three of his round-robin matches to David Ferrer 6–4, 6–4; Richard Gasquet 6–4, 6–2; and Nadal 6–4, 6–4.

Novak Djokovic started the year by playing the Hopman Cup along with fellow Serbian World Number 3 Jelena Jankovic. He won all of his round-robin matches and the team, seeded number one, reached the final. They lost 2–1 to the second-seeded American team consisting of Serena Williams and Mardy Fish.

At the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic defeated the top-seeded and defending champion Roger Federer in the semifinals 7–5, 6–3, 7–6(5). This ended at ten Federer's streak of consecutive Grand Slam finals. Djokovic also became the first person to beat Federer in straight sets in a Grand Slam tournament since Gustavo Kuerten in the 2004 French Open. Novak Djokovic then defeated unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final to earn Serbia's and his first ever Grand Slam singles title. At the age of 20 years and 250 days, he was the youngest male to win the Australian Open singles title since Stefan Edberg in 1985. This win also enabled Djokovic to surpass US$6 million in career prize money.

At the Open 13 tournament in Marseille, Novak Djokovic was upset by Frenchman Gilles Simon in the second round 6–2, 6–7(6), 6–3. Djokovic's next tournament was the Dubai Duty Free Men's Open, where he lost in the semifinals to World No. 6 Andy Roddick 7–6(5), 6–3.

At the Masters Series Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Djokovic won his ninth career singles title, defeating American Mardy Fish in the three-set final. At the Masters Series Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Djokovic was upset in the second round by Kevin Anderson 7–6, 3–6, 6–4. On red clay at the Monte Carlo Masters, Novak Djokovic retired from his semifinal match with Federer while trailing 6–3, 3–2. However, two weeks later, Djokovic won his tenth career singles title and fourth Master Series singles crown at the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome after defeating Stanislas Wawrinka in the final. The following week at the Hamburg Masters, Djokovic lost to Rafael Nadal in a three-hour semifinal match 7–5, 2–6, 6–2. Had Djokovic won the match, he would have replaced Nadal as World No. 2.

At the French Open in Paris, Novak Djokovic was the third-seeded player behind Roger Federer and Nadal. Djokovic lost to Nadal in the semifinals 6–4, 6–2, 7–6(3). Had Djokovic won the match, he would have replaced Nadal as World No. 2.

Davis Cup

He is good friends with fellow junior graduate (and sometimes doubles partner) Andy Murray, who was part of the Great Britain team that Serbia and Montenegro defeated in the Davis Cup in Glasgow in April 2006. Djokovic got the decisive win on April 9, 2006 by defeating Greg Rusedski in four sets in the fourth match, giving his team a 3–1 lead in their best of 5 series, thus keeping Serbia and Montenegro in the Group One Euro/African Zone of Davis Cup. He now represents Serbia, since Montenegro gained independence in June 2006. By winning all of his three matches, Novak Djokovic played a key role in the 2007 play-off win over Australia, promoting Serbia to World Group in 2008, where it is scheduled to play against the first seeded Russia, 8 – 10 February 2008. During the tie in Moscow, Novak Djokovic was sidelined due to influenza and was forced to miss his first singles match in the match against Russia. He returned to win his doubles match with Nenad Zimonjic before being forced to retire during his match with Nikolay Davydenko. He was leading by two sets to one when he was forced off with dizziness.

On grass, Djokovic once again played Nadal, this time in the Artois Championships final in Queen's Club, London, losing 7–6(6), 7–5. At Wimbledon, Djokovic was the third seeded player; however, he lost in the second round.

Novak Djokovic then failed to defend his 2007 singles title at the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Toronto. He was eliminated in the quarter-finals by eighth-seeded Andy Murray 6–3, 7–6(3). The following week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Djokovic advanced to the final. In the final, he again lost to Murray in straight sets.

His next tournament was the Beijing Olympics, his first Summer Olympics. He and Nenad Zimonjić, seeded second in men's doubles, were eliminated in the first round by the Czech pairing of Martin Damm and Pavel Vízner. Seeded third in singles, Djokovic lost in the semifinals to Nadal, 6–4, 1–6, 6–4. Djokovic then defeated James Blake, the loser of the other semi-final, in the bronze medal match 6–3, 7–6(4).

After the Olympics, Novak Djokovic entered the US Open as the third seed. His run at the US Open ended in the semifinals when he lost to Federer 6–3, 5–7, 7–5, 6–2 in a rematch of the 2007 US Open final.

Novak Djokovic played four tournaments after the US Open. In a rematch of the 2008 Australian Open final, he lost in the final of the Thailand Open to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. In November, Djokovic was the second seed at the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai due to Nadal being unable to participate. In his first round robin match, he defeated Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets. He then beat Nikolay Davydenko in three sets before losing his final round robin match against Tsonga 1–6, 7–5, 6–1. Djokovic qualified for the semi-finals, where he defeated Gilles Simon 4–6, 6–3, 7–5. In the final, Djokovic defeated Davydenko again to win his first ever Tennis Masters Cup title.

2009

Djokovic started the year at the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia, where he was upset by Ernests Gulbis in the first round. At the Medibank International in Sydney, he lost to Jarkko Nieminen in the semi-finals. Djokovic would have risen to World No. 2 had he won the match.

As defending champion at the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic retired from his quarterfinal match with former World No. 1 Andy Roddick while he was trailing in the fourth set 6–7(3), 6–4, 6–2, 2–1, due to heat exhaustion, muscle cramps, and soreness. His retirement drew criticism from several players remaining in the tournament, including Roger Federer, who noted that Djokovic had now retired from matches in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

After losing in the semi-finals of the Open 13 tournament in Marseille to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Djokovic won the singles title at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating David Ferrer to claim his twelfth career title. The following week, Djokovic was the defending champion at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, but lost to Roddick in the quarter-finals 6–3, 6–2. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, Djokovic beat Federer in the semi-finals 3–6, 6–2, 6–3 before losing to Andy Murray in the final.

Djokovic reached the final of the next ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on clay, losing to Rafael Nadal in the final. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, Djokovic was the defending champion, but again lost in the final after defeating Federer. This loss caused Djokovic's ranking to drop to World No. 4 on May 11, ending 81 consecutive weeks at the number 3 ranking.

Djokovic was the top seed at his hometown tournament, the Serbia Open in Belgrade. He defeated first-time finalist Łukasz Kubot to win his second title of the year. As third seed at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, Djokovic advanced to the semi-finals without dropping a set. There he faced Nadal for the third time in five weeks and, despite holding three match points, lost 3–6, 7–6(5), 7–6(9). The match, at 4 hours and 2 minutes, was the longest three-set singles match on the ATP World Tour in the Open Era. At the French Open, he lost in the third round to German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6–4, 6–4, 6–4.

Djokovic began his grass court season at the Gerry Weber Open where, after the withdrawal of Federer, he competed as the top seed. He advanced to the final, where he lost to German Tommy Haas. Djokovic also lost to Haas in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 7–5, 7–6(6), 4–6, 6–3.

During the U.S. Open Series, Djokovic made the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal before losing to Andy Roddick 6–4, 7–6(4). The loss was his third of the year to Roddick. At the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Djokovic defeated World No. 3 Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, 6–1, 6–4, to reach his second consecutive final at the event. He lost in the final to World No. 1 Roger Federer 6–1, 7–5.

At the 2009 US Open, Djokovic made the semi-finals having dropping only two sets, defeating the likes of Ivan Ljubicic, 15th seed Radek Štěpánek and 10th seed Fernando Verdasco en route. He lost however to Roger Federer in the semis in a hard fought encounter, 7–6(3), 7–5, 7–5.

Djokovic then took part at the China Open in Beijing. He defeated Victor Hănescu, Viktor Troicki, Fernando Verdasco and Robin Soderling en route to the final, where he defeated Marin Čilić in straight sets, 6–2, 7–6 to win his third title of the year. Djokovic regained the World No. 3 ranking on October 19, as a result of his performance at this tournament, and Andy Murray's withdrawal from the 2009 Shanghai Masters. At the inaugural Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, Djokovic lost in the semi-finals to sixth seed and eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko 6–4, 4–6, 6–7(1) in just over 3 hours.

At the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, Djokovic recorded his first career double bagel, defeating Jan Hernych 6–0, 6–0, to make it to the quarter-finals. He then recovered from a set and break deficit to defeat Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarter-finals, 3–6, 7–6(5), 6–2. In the semi-finals, he saved three match points to defeat Radek Štěpánek 6–7(4), 7–5, 6–2. In the final, he defeated home favourite and three-time defending champion Roger Federer 6–4, 4–6, 6–2 to win his fourth title of the year. With this win, Djokovic remained a perfect 15-0 at ATP World 500 tournaments in 2009.

At the last Masters 1000 event of the year at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, Djokovic finally won his first Masters 1000 title of the year. He defeated Rafael Nadal 6–2, 6–3, in the semi-finals in 77 minutes hitting 31 winners en route. In the final, Djokovic held off several comebacks in the match from Gaël Monfils, eventually prevailing, 6–2, 5–7, 7–6(3).

Coming into the year ending ATP World Tour Finals in London as the defending champion, Djokovic defeated Nikolay Davydenko in his first round robin match, 3–6, 6–4, 7–5, extending his winning streak to 11 matches. His run was ended however in his second match, where a weary looking Djokovic lost to the first time in 6 career meetings to Robin Söderling 7–6(5), 6–1. Despite victory over Rafael Nadal 7–6(5), 6–3, in his final match, Novak Djokovic failed to make the semi-finals due to his percentage of sets won being inferior to that of Davydenko in a three way tie between Söderling, Davydenko and Djokovic (all three having finished the round robin stage with a 2–1 win-loss record).

Djokovic ended the year as the World No. 3 for the third consecutive year. Djokovic played 97 matches through out the year, 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 reached a career best 10 finals, winning 5 titles.

2010

Djokovic started his year by playing in the Kooyong Classic, an exhibition event. In his first match, he defeated Tommy Haas but lost to Fernando Verdasco in his second. Djokovic participated in an exhibition match against Australia's World No. 291 Bernard Tomic in which he lost.

At the Australian Open, Djokovic was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets, 6–7(8), 7–6(5), 6–1, 3–6, 1–6, struggling with illness both before the match and from the fourth set onwards. Despite the loss, Djokovic attained a career-high ranking of World No. 2, due to Rafael Nadal's inability to defend his title and Roger Federer's win over Andy Murray in the final.

He reached the semis of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, losing to Mikhail Youzhny 6–7(5), 6–7(6), despite having set points in the second set tiebreak. At the Dubai Tennis Championships in U.A.E., Novak Djokovic reached his second consecutive final at this event after beating all his opponents in 3 sets from the first round onwards. In the final, he defeated Russian Mikhail Youzhny winning, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 to win his first title of the year. This was the first time in his career that Djokovic had defended a title.

He then took part in Serbia's Davis Cup tie against the USA on clay in Belgrade. He helped Serbia reach their first quarter-final in the Davis Cup 3-2 victory, defeating Sam Querrey in four sets, and John Isner in five sets.

Djokovic then took part in the first Masters 1000 events of the year in North America. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, he lost in the fourth round to the eventual champion Ivan Ljubičić 5–7, 3–6. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, he suffered a shock loss, losing his opening match to Olivier Rochus 2–6, 7–6(7), 4–6. This was his first opening round defeat since losing to Fabrice Santoro at the 2007 BNP Paribas Masters. Djokovic then announced he had ceased working with Todd Martin as his coach. He admitted that Martin did try to change his service motion which caused him to routinely produce a high number of double faults in his matches and significantly reduced his threat on serve.

In his first clay-court tournament of the year at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, top seeded Djokovic reached the semi-finals with wins over Stanislas Wawrinka and in form David Nalbandian. There, he lost for the first time in his last five meetings to Fernando Verdasco, 2–6, 2–6. Djokovic again lost to Verdasco at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, this time in the quarter-finals, 6–7(4), 6–3, 4–6. Djokovic later said that his recent form had been hindered by allergies for the last two months.

As the defending champion at his hometown event, the Serbia Open in Belgrade, he withdrew in the quarter-finals while trailing 4–6 to the World No. 330, Filip Krajinovic. He later announced his withdrawal from the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open because of illness.

Playing style

Novak Djokovic is an all-court player. His greatest strengths includes his dominant groundstrokes, especially the forehand which are powerful, deep, well angled, and hit with strong topspin, although his preferred groundstroke is the backhand. With considerable speed, his serve is one of his major weapons winning many free points from his flatter first serve and employing a sharp curving kick serve as his second serve. Novak Djokovic, while very sound and powerful from the baseline, often finishes points by coming to the net similar to Roger Federer. He also utilizes a well-disguised backhand underspin dropshot and sliced backhand (groundstroke) in his repertoire.

Equipment

Novak Djokovic endorses/is sponsored by Wilson and adidas ; he is currently using the Wilson [K]Factor [K]Blade Tour tennis racquet strung with Technifibre X-One Biphase 17 Gauge. Djokovic also wears the adidas barricade V shoes and the adidas Edge Group clothing.

Career statistics

Grand Slam singles finals (2)

Win (1)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
2008 Australian Open Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(2)

Runner-up (1)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
2007 US Open Roger Federer 7–6(4), 7–6(2), 6–4

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Source of this article: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia