Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, born 22 May 1987 is a Serbian professional tennis player who will be ranked No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) on 4 July 2011. He has won two Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open championships, becoming the first player representing Serbia to win a Grand Slam singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam events, separately and consecutively.

He is also one of only four players (David Nalbandian, Andy Murray, and Rafael Nadal being the other 3) to beat Roger Federer 3 times in one calendar year. He is also one of four players (Nalbandian, Murray and Nikolay Davydenko being the other 3) to beat Federer and Nadal in the same tournament twice, accomplishing that feat when he won the 2011 Indian Wells Masters 1000 event. He is also the youngest player in the Open Era to defeat the top three players in succession and he achieved this when he defeated world number 3 Andy Roddick, world number 2 Nadal, and World number 1 Federer in the 2007 Rogers Cup. He is one of only two players to have defeated Federer at the semifinal stage or later on more than one occasion in Grand Slam tournaments, and also at consecutive tournaments (the other being Nadal).

Djokovic was the runner-up at the 2007 and 2010 US Open tournaments (to Federer and Nadal, respectively), and a bronze medalist representing Serbia at the 2008 Olympic Games. In addition, Djokovic won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008 and has won nine Masters Series tournaments. In 2010, he led Serbia to win the Davis Cup. Djokovic finished the ATP Tour as World No. 3 for four consecutive years between 2007 and 2010.

From the 2010 Davis Cup finals to the 2011 French Open, Djokovic had a 43-match win streak, third only to Guillermo Vilas (46 matches in 1977) and Ivan Lendl (44 matches in 1981/1982). This includes titles at the Australian Open, Dubai, Indian Wells Masters, Miami Masters, Serbia Open, Madrid Masters, and the Rome Masters. He won 41 straight matches from the start of 2011 until the French Open semi-finals (where he was beaten by Roger Federer),[4] second only to John McEnroe's record (he started 42–0 in 1984[5]).

Djokovic's emergence as a serious challenger to both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal has led to the coining of a new sporting term: the trivalry. He is also considered the best male tennis player to come out of Serbia and the former Yugoslavia. Djokovic is also a double winner of the award The Best Sportperson of Serbia and award for The Best Sportsman by Olympic Committee of Serbia. He has been awarded with the Order of St. Sava, the highest decoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church. He is a great fan of Serbian football club Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) and Italian Serie A champions A.C. Milan.

Playing style, equipment and diet

Djokovic is an all-court player with emphasis on aggressive baseline play. His groundstrokes from both wings are consistent, deep, and penetrating. His backhand is widely regarded as one of the best in today's game. His best weapon is his backhand hit down the line, with great pace and precision. He is also known as one of the greatest movers on the court with superior agility, court coverage and defensive ability. After great technical difficulties during the 2009 season, his serve is one of his major weapons again, winning him many free points; his first serve is typically hit flat, while he prefers to slice and kick his second serves wide. Darren Cahill has stated that Djokovic, along with David Ferrer, is the best returner of serve in the men's game. Occasionally, Djokovic employs excessive ball-bouncing before serves – much to the chagrin of some of his opponents – as well as a well-disguised backhand underspin drop shot and sliced backhand. While his ball-bouncing habit has vastly decreased over the last year, his drop shots still tend to be a drawback when hit under pressure and without proper preparation.

Djokovic used Head rackets, utilizing a custom paint job of the Head YouTek Speed Pro racquet, after using Wilson until the end of 2008. In the 2011 Australian Open, he began using a custom PJ of the Head YouTek IG Speed MP 18/20 with Innegra™ fibre technology. Djokovic strings in a custom hybrid consisting of Head Natural Gut in the mains, and Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power Rough in the crosses.At the end of 2009, Djokovic signed a 10-year deal with the Italian clothing company Sergio Tacchini after Adidas refused to extend his clothing contract (choosing instead to sign Andy Murray). Djokovic has recently begun to wear custom Red and Blue Adidas Barricade 6.0's shoes, referring to the colours of the Serbian national flag.

Since 2006 Djokovic has been coached by Slovakian former professional tennis player Marian Vajda. On occasion Djokovic employed additional coaches on part-time basis: in 2007, during the spring hardcourt season, he worked with Australian doubles ace Mark Woodforde with specific emphasis on volleys and net play while from August 2009 until April 2010 American Todd Martin joined the coaching team, a period marked by his ill-fated attempt to change Djokovic's serve motion.

In 2010, Djokovic's nutritionist discovered the tennis player has an allergy to gluten and Djokovic purged it from his diet. He started the 2011 season strong, with the dietary change being given credit amongst observers.

Biography

Novak Djokovic was born May 22, 1987, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, to father Srđan and mother, Dijana. His two younger brothers, Marko and Djordje, are also tennis players with professional aspirations.Since the end of 2005 Novak has been dating Jelena Ristić.

He started playing tennis at the age of four, and was spotted by Yugoslav tennis legend Jelena Genčić at the age of eight, who stated: "This is the greatest talent I have seen since Monica Seles. At 12 years old, he spent three months at Nikola Pilić's tennis academy in Munich, Germany, and at age 14, his international career began, winning European championships in singles, doubles, and team competition. He currently resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco and has been coached by a former Slovak tennis player, Marián Vajda; in August 2009 he also began working with former US top-five player Todd Martin.

Djokovic is also known for his often 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 Moyà, where he entertained the audience with impersonations of Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. He also did an impression of American tennis great John McEnroe after his final preliminary game at the 2009 US Open, before playing a brief game with McEnroe, much to the delight of the audience. It is because of this jovial personality that he earned the nickname "Djoker", a portmanteau of his surname and the word joker.

Novak Djokovic is a member of the "Champions for Peace" club, a group of famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

Similar to fellow pro Roger Federer, Djokovic is a self described fan of languages, speaking 4 himself: his native Serbian, English, German, and Italian.

Order of St. Sava

On 28 April 2011 in Belgrade, Patriarch Irinej of Serbia awarded Djokovic the Order of St. Sava I class, the highest decoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The order was given to him because he demonstrated love for the church, and because he provided assistance to the Serbian people, churches and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church of Kosovo and Metohija.

In popular culture

In 2009 and 2010 Djokovic won Oscar Of Popularity for the most popular male athlete in Serbia.

He was a special guest in the first semi-final of Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade. He threw a big tennis ball into the crowd, announcing the start of voting. Together with presenter of the show Željko Joksimović, Djokovic sang a song about Belgrade.

Djokovic is also featured in the music video for the song "Hello" by Martin Solveig and Dragonette. The video, filmed at Stade Roland Garros, shows Solveig facing off against Bob Sinclar, another DJ, in a tennis match. When the referee calls a crucial ball "Out", Djokovic enters the arena and convinces the referee otherwise.

In 2010, Serbian blues-rock band Zona B recorded the song "The Joker", dedicating it to Djokovic.

On 25 June 2011 its seventieth Congress in Chicago, all the members unanimously awarded Djokovic the Order of Serbian National Defense in America I class, the highest decoration of the SND. The order was given to him because of his merits in the international sport scene and his contribution to the reputation of the Serbs and the Serbian country in the World.