As Novak Djokovic makes his final preparations for his first round match at the French Open, the Serbian celebrates his 29th birthday. The past 29 years have certainly seen Djokovic make his mark on the world, but how well do we know the world No.1?
The first Serbian Grand Slam Champion: At the 2008 Australian Open Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to become the first Serbian tennis player to win a major title. He is also currently the only Serbian to have won multiple grand slam titles.
One of the first Serbian athletes in history to win an Olympic medal: In 2008 Djokovic became one of the first athletes from his country to win an Olympic medal when he won a bronze medal in the singles competition. Djokovic was one of three medallists from his country during the 2008 games.
He grew up in a war zone: Djokovic was only 12 when the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia started. He has publicly spoken in the past about the times he had to go and shelter during air strikes.
“Rising up from over the roof of our building came the steel gray triangle of an F-117 bomber. I watched in horror as its great metal belly opened : directly above me, and two laser-guided missiles dropped out of it, taking aim at my family, my friends, my neighborhood—everything I’d ever known … I didn’t stop shivering for the rest of the night.” Djokovic recounted about the bombings in his book ‘served to win’.
The highest earning player of all time: The world No.1 might have six less grand slam titles than Roger Federer, however, he leads everybody in the prize money race. A title at the French Open will make him the first player in history to earn over $100 million in prize money.
TENNIS’S BIGGEST PRIZEMONEY EARNERS (source Fox Sports Australia)
1. Novak Djokovic – $US99,673,404 ($A136.48 million)
2. Roger Federer – $US98,011,727 ($A134.21 million)
3. Rafael Nadal – $US78,109,778 ($A106.95 million)
4. Serena Williams – $US76,467,915 ($A103.20 million)
5. Andy Murray – $US45,157,463 ($A60.26 million)
Started playing tennis at the age of six: If it wasn’t for an observation made by Jelena Gencic, Djokovic might have never played on the ATP Tour. In 1993 Gencic was running a summer camp in Kopaonik, Serbia where she spotted a young Djokovic gazing at the camp. She approached Djokovic and invited him to join the camp, starting what turned out to be one of the most impressive tennis careers in the modern era of the game.
11 Grand Slam titles: Djokovic currently has six Australian Open, three Wimbledon and two US Open titles in his collection. He is currently ranked fifth in the all-time list for most grand slam titles won by a male player.
His first ATP Tour win: Djokovic’s first win on the ATP Tour occurred on clay at the 2004 Bucharest Open. In the first round he defeated Arnuad Clement 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
He is multilingual: Djokovic can speak Serbian, English, German, Italian and French. He has also given interviews in German and Spanish!
He likes to eat the grass at Wimbledon: In what is an unusual tradition, Djokovic eats the grass on centre court when he wins the trophy. It sounds strange to some, but Djokovic explained his reason behind it.
“It’s a little tradition obviously. As a kid I was dreaming of winning Wimbledon, so, like every child, you dream of doing something crazy when you actually achieve it — if you achieve it — and that was one of the things.”
A member of the Serbian Orthodox Church. In 2010 Djokovic was awarded the Order of St. Sava, the highest award that can be given by the church.
Wheat and dairy intolerant: Djokovic is known for his gluten free diet and has attributed it to his success on the tour.
Djokovic is the first player to win both the Indian Wells and Miami Masters within the same season four times (2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016).
Has a 83% winning record: Going into this week’s French Open, Djokovic has won 723 out of his 872 matches according to atpworldtour.com.
He is the first player in the Open era to win the ATP Finals four consecutive times (2012-2015).
He won the longest final in grand slam history: At the 2012 Australian Open, Djokovic required five fours and 53 minutes to defeat Rafael Nadal 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5. It is the 13th longest match in the history of men’s tennis.
