WITH 24 GRAND SLAM TITLES, SEVEN ATP FINALS TITLES, 40 MASTERS 1000 TITLES, AND AS OF LAST YEAR, AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL, TENNIS TITAN NOVAK DJOKOVIC (DUBBED THE SERBINATOR
BY FRIENDS AND FANS) CONTINUES HIS REIGN AS THE KING OF THE COURT BY WILL HARRI
Anyone for tennis?” It’s an oft-asked question, but if it’s ever posed to you by Novak Djokovic, choose your answer carefully and consider how much you enjoy the agony of defeat: he’s been dominating the sport of tennis since he burst onto the scene in his teens, and he’s only gotten better with age.
Born in 1987 in Belgrade, Serbia, Djokovic started playing tennis when he was all of four years old, after his parents gifted him a mini racket and a soft foam ball. As a result of attending a few summer tennis camps, he was taken under the wing of Yugoslavian tennis player Jelena Gencic, who worked with him for half a dozen years.
After tearing it up on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour (as it’s now called) from 2001-2003, Djokovic formally began his professional career at age 13, but 2005 was the year that he really began making an impact on the world stage, making his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open, winning his first Grand Slam match at the French Open, and reaching the third round of both Wimbledon and the US Open. Two years later, he won his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne.
“I love his head,” Martina Navratilova told The Guardian after Djokovic’s 2008 victory. “He’s such a smart guy out there, and I like his attitude on and off the court.”
The victories have continued to come fast and furious ever since, so much so that it’s far easier to offer up a list of the number of times he’s won key titles. He’s racked up nine wins at the Australian Open, seven wins at Wimbledon, four wins at the US Open, and three wins at the French Open. He’s also won the ATP Finals on six different occasions, and as far as the number of records he’s set during the course of his career…Quite frankly, we simply don’t have the space to list them all.
Although many have called him the GOAT of tennis, Djokovic won’t refer to himself in such a fashion.
“I don’t want to say that I am the greatest, because I feel it’s disrespectful towards all the great champions in different eras of our sport, that was played in a completely different way than it is played today,” Djokovic told Australian Tennis Magazine in 2023. “I feel like each great champion of his own generation has left a huge mark, a legacy, and paved the way for us to be able to play this sport on such a great stage worldwide.”
As of this writing, however, Djokovic is in a position where his next professional title will be the 100th of his career. To date, only two other tennis players have achieved this level of success: Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103).
“Ever since I won my 99th, which was the Olympic Games in Paris, I’ve been playing with the prospect of winning the special hundred titles,” Djokovic told ATPTour.com. “It’s a great opportunity.”
Novak Djokovic