Novak Djokovic is a professional tennis player from Serbia who won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open back in January 2008. Up until February 2022 when Daniil Medvedev overtook him, Djokovic held the World No.1 spot for 361 weeks. He has won 20 Grand Slam events, tied with Roger Federer.
He is the first Serbian player to win the singles titles at the Grand Slam. He is also known to be the youngest player to reach the semi-finals at the four Grand Slams in the Open Era.
He holds a number of professional records including having the most Australian Open titles, holding a career ATP Tour Golden Masters, a Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam, and more.
Player Profile and Personal Life
Djokovic was born on May 22, 1987, in Belgrade, Serbia. He is a resident of Serbia and Montenegro. He also has a residence in Monte Carlo in Monaco. He stands 188cm tall and he plays with his right hand with a two-handed backhand.
He started playing tennis at a young age and he attended the Novi Sad tennis camp when he was four. He is married to Jelena Ristic. They have two children together. Novak speaks English, Serbian, French, Italian, and German.
His two other brothers are also into the professional tennis career. Novak was trained in Nikola Pilic’s Tennis Academy in Munich when he was twelve years old. After two years, his career started as he began earning titles in the European Championships - both in singles and doubles categories.
Since he turned pro in 2003, he has won more than US$150 million in prize money.
Career
In the first years of his sporting career, Novak gained three wins each in the Challenger and Future tournaments.
In the 2007 U.S. Open, Djokovic was awarded runner-up title reaching the Masters Series five times. He won four out of the five. He competed at the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Championships and the French Open in 2007. He paired with another Serbian player, Ana Ivanovic at the 2006 Hopman Cup where they were almost unsuccessful to get into the final match.
Not only is Novak a serious professional tennis player, but possesses humor as well by impersonating Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal, off-court. This entertained the audience and his act became well known after his successful match against Carlos Moya in the 2007 US Open.
He had one of his best seasons professionally in 2011. In that year alone, he won 10 tournaments, including Grand Slam victories. Pete Sampras even declared that Novak’s 2011 run was one of the best he had seen.
By 2016, he had already bagged his 60th career title. In July 2017, he announced that he was taking time off from playing professionally in order to address his elbow injury. He spent the rest of 2017 away before slowly coming back to form in early to mid-2018. In 2019, he bagged his 7th Australian Open title and his 5th Wimbledon championship. In 2020, he won his second Golden Masters. In 2021, he surprised Sampras’ record for the most weeks as World No1. He also helped lead Serbia to the finals of the 2021 Davis Cup.
He held the No.1 spot for a record-breaking 361 weeks until he was dethroned by Daniil Medvedev in the last week of February 2022. He now holds the No.2 spot.
Playing Style
Djokovic is known for his aggressive playing style. He has consistent, penetrating, and deep groundstrokes. It is also widely recognized that his backhand is one of the best in the sport today. He also has a very powerful return of serve.
He is also highly athletic and is considered one of the fittest and most complete athletes of the modern-day.
2022 Australian Open Controversy
Djokovic was entangled in international controversy before the start of the 2022 Australian Open. He had previously received a medical exemption from the organizers at Melbourne Park that would have allowed him to play unvaccinated.
Australian Immigration revoked his visa upon entering the country and he was held in their custody while he appealed his case. Djokovic was later deported back to Serbia, a few days before the start of the Aussie Open effectively missing out on the chance to win his 21st Grand Slam title.
Spaniard Rafael Nadal took home that honor instead.
Career Statistics:
Singles
Highest ranking: No. 1 (4 July 2011)Current ranking: No. 2 (28 February 2022)
Grand Slam Singles Performances
Australian Open - W (2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021)French Open - W (2016, 2021)Wimbledon - W (2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021)US Open - W (2011, 2015, 2018)
Other Tournaments
ATP Tour Finals - W (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)Olympic Games - Bronze medal (2008)
Doubles
Highest ranking: No. 114 (30 November 2009)Current ranking: No. 344 (28 February 2022)
Grand Slam Doubles Performances
Australian Open - 1R (2006, 2007)French Open - 1R (2006)Wimbledon - 2R (2006)US Open - 1R (2006)
Other Doubles Tournaments
Olympic Games - 2R (2016)
Other Mixed Doubles Tournaments
Olympic Games - SF – 4th (2020)
Team Competitions
Davis Cup - W (2010)Hopman Cup - F (2008, 2013)
