Novak Djokovic in top form
Born on 22 May, 1987, in Belgrade, Serbia, Novak Djokovic first laid his hands on a tennis racket at the age of four and immediately showed an inclination towards his future vocation. Affectionately called “Nole” by his father, Srdjan and mother, Dijana, Djokovic acknowledged that he relied heavily on his family’s support to realize his ambitions of becoming a professional tennis player.
His early inspiration came from the legendary Pete Sampras and at the age of twelve Djokovic joined the Niki Pilic Academy in Germany to sharpen his tennis skills before becoming a professional player at the age of was sixteen. The Serb was well on his way to winning acclaim not only as a celebrated tennis player, but also for his keen sense of humour, a talent he has never shied away from demonstrating both off and on the court.
Djokovic’s break came in 2003 when he clinched the Futures title in Serbia and Montenegro and also made it to the semi-finals of two other Futures events the same year. The budding talent consolidated these successes the following year after battling all the way to the semi-finals of the 2004 Australian Open junior singles and doubles events.
In 2005 the Serbian number one managed to make it to the ATP (Association of Tennis Professional) Tour world top 100 players list to become the least-aged player at 18 years and 5 months to receive the honour. The same year Djokovic managed to qualify for the French Open at Roland Garros before crashing out of the event in the second round after succumbing to Argentina’s Guillermo Coria. The Serbian also made it to the third round of the season’s U.S. Open event, defeating Frenchman Gael Monfils and Croatian Mario Ancic on the way.
The 2006 season saw Djokovic come into his own after making it to the French Open quarter finals and the fourth round at Wimbledon before concluding the year as a the youngest player to have made it to the world Top 20 standings. The Serbian inaugurated the 2007 campaign by clinching victory at the ATP Adelaide tournament. Continuing the uphill struggle that would see him climb up the rankings to the world Top Ten sheet, Djokovic was knocked out of the years Australian Open by Roger Federer in the competition’s fourth round and won the ATP Masters Series event in Key Biscayne, Florida.
More was yet to come from the fired-up Serb who caused several major upsets at the 2007 ATP Masters Series Rogers Cup in Montreal when he conquered World Number Three Andy Roddick, Number Two Rafael Nadal and Number One Roger Federer one after the other to lift the ultimate trophy. In doing so, Djokovic had managed a feat which only the legendary Boris Becker had achieved i.e. demolishing the world’s top three players in the course of a single tournament. The seemingly unstoppable Serb also reached the U.S. Open final that year but his hopes of landing his first ever Grand Slam title were dashed by none other than World Number One Roger Federer who was determined to exact redemption after the earlier defeat at Montreal. Djokovic had clearly come long way when he closed the year’s campaign ranked number three in the world.
The Serb continued to dazzle during the 2008 season, producing a show that helped him maintain his World Number Three ranking for a second successive year and thereby emulating the record of his childhood idol, Pete Sampras. Djokovic put on an astonishing display to seal victory at the years Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and then again at the Australian Open where he overwhelmed Roger Federer in the semi-finals before vanquishing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. Once again Federer managed to salvage his reputation after making Djokovic pay the price for his earlier defeat at the 2008 U.S. Open semi-finals.
Djokovic managed to hold on to his World Number Three ranking at the close of the 2009 in spite of his inability to add another Grand Slam trophy to his name. With a resurgent Rafael Nadal’s return to top form, Djokovic faces some tough competition over the continuing 2010 season.
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