''McEnroe'' was a talk show on CNBC hosted by tennis player John McEnroe. It was broadcast July 7, 2004 through December 15, 2004.

The show debuted on July 7, 2004. McEnroe's sidekick was John Fugelsang. The show was panned by critics right from its debut, and in August 2004, it was reported that the show had twice garnered a Nielsen rating of 0.0. On December 3, 2004, CNBC executives sent a memo to network employees saying the show was being canceled. McEnroe was given the option of stopping production immediately or allowing the show to go two more weeks. McEnroe decided to let the show last two more weeks to give the behind-the-scenes workers more work before the show went off-air. The last episode aired on December 15, 2004. During the time after the report of the 0.0 rating came up, which was during the two-week break the show took for CNBC's coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics, Woody Fraser was brought in to be the executive producer to try to save the show, using his powers to try things like making McEnroe dress more professionally by wearing suits and ties, and having Fugelsang less involved, but to no avail.

The show was taped at CNBC's New Jersey studio, and tapings began at about 2 p.m. The show aired Monday through Thursday on the network. McEnroe's wife, Patty Smyth, sang the show's theme song.

References

External links

Category:CNBC programs Category:American television talk shows

Name	John McEnroe
Country	United States
Residence	New York City
Birth date	February 16, 1959
Birth place	Wiesbaden, West Germany
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	165 lb (75 kg)
Turnedpro	1978, international debut in 1976
Retired	1992
Plays	Left-handed (one-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	US$12,547,797
Tennishofyear	1999
Tennishofid	john-mcenroe
Singlesrecord	875–198 (81.55%)
Singlestitles	104 including 77 listed by the ATP
Highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (March 3, 1980)
Australianopenresult	SF (1983)
Frenchopenresult	F (1984)
Wimbledonresult	W (1981, 1983, 1984)
Usopenresult	W (1979, 1980, 1981, 1984)
Othertournaments	Yes
Masterscupresult	Masters W (1978, 1983, 1984) WCT W (1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1989)
Doublesrecord	530–103 (83.73%)
Doublestitles	71
Highestdoublesranking	No. 1 (January 3, 1983)
Grandslamsdoublesresults	yes
Australianopendoublesresult	SF (1989)
Frenchopendoublesresult	QF (1992)
Wimbledondoublesresult	W (1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1992)
Usopendoublesresult	W (1979, 1981, 1983, 1989)
Mixed	yes
Frenchopenmixedresult	W (1977)
Updated	July 6, 2006 }}

John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles (three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open), nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. McEnroe also won a record eight season ending championships, comprising five WCT Finals titles and three Masters Grand Prix titles from twelve final appearances at these two events, a record he shares with Ivan Lendl. In addition he won 19 Championship Series top tier events of the Grand Prix Tour that were the precursors to the current Masters 1000.

He is best remembered for his shot-making artistry and superb volleying; for his famous rivalries with Björn Borg, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl; for his confrontational on-court behavior which frequently landed him in trouble with umpires and tennis authorities; and for the catchphrase "You cannot be serious!" directed toward an umpire during a match at Wimbledon in 1981. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999, and is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

McEnroe is the older brother of Patrick McEnroe, who is also a former professional tennis player and the former Captain of the United States Davis Cup team, a position in which John served previously. They also both are now often commentators for Grand Slam tennis television coverage in the United States, and John McEnroe is also a commentator on Wimbledon for the BBC.

Early life

McEnroe was born in Wiesbaden, West Germany, to Kay (''née'' Tresham) and John Patrick McEnroe, Sr. His father, who is of Irish descent, was at the time stationed with the United States Air Force. In 1960, the family moved to the New York City area, where McEnroe's father worked daytime as an advertising agent while attending Fordham Law School by night. He has two younger brothers: Mark (born 1964), and former professional tennis player Patrick (born 1966).

McEnroe grew up in Douglaston, Queens. He started playing tennis when he was eight years old at the nearby Douglaston Club with his brothers. When he was nine, his parents enrolled him in the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association, and he soon started playing regional tournaments. He then began competing in national juniors tournaments, and at twelve—when he was ranked seven in his age group—he joined the Port Washington Tennis Academy, Long Island, New York. McEnroe attended Trinity School and graduated in 1977.

Career

As an 18 year old amateur in 1977, McEnroe won the mixed doubles at the French Open with Mary Carillo, and then made it through the qualifying tournament and into the main draw at Wimbledon, where he lost in the semifinals to Jimmy Connors in four sets. It was the best performance by a qualifier at a Grand Slam tournament and a record performance by an amateur in the open era.

After Wimbledon in 1977, McEnroe entered Stanford University, and went on to win the National Collegiate Athletic Association singles and team titles in 1978. Later in 1978, he joined the ATP tour and signed his first professional endorsement deal, with Sergio Tacchini. He won five titles that year including his first Masters Grand Prix , beating Arthur Ashe in straight sets.

In 1979, McEnroe won his first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open. He defeated his good friend Vitas Gerulaitis in straight sets in the final to become the youngest male winner of the singles title at the US Open since Pancho Gonzales, who was also 20 in 1948. He also won the prestigious season ending WCT Finals beating Björn Borg in 4 sets. McEnroe won 10 singles and 17 doubles titles that year (for a total of 27 titles, which marked an open era record).

In the Wimbledon Championships, McEnroe reached the 1980 Wimbledon Men's Singles final – his first final at the Championships – where he faced Björn Borg, who was gunning for his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title. At the start of the final, McEnroe was booed by the crowd as he entered Centre Court following heated exchanges with officials during his semifinal victory over Jimmy Connors. In a fourth-set tiebreaker that lasted 20 minutes, McEnroe saved five match points and eventually won 18–16. McEnroe, however, could not break Borg's serve in the fifth set, which the Swede won 8–6. This match was called the best Wimbledon final by ESPN's countdown show "Who's Number One?" McEnroe exacted revenge two months later, beating Borg in the five-set final of the 1980 US Open.

McEnroe remained controversial when he returned to Wimbledon in 1981. Following his first-round match against Tom Gullikson, McEnroe was fined U.S. $1,500 and came close to being thrown out of the championships after he called umpire Ted James "the pits of the world" and then swore at tournament referee Fred Hoyles. He also made famous the phrase "you cannot be serious", which years later would become the title of McEnroe's autobiography, by shouting it after several umpires' calls during his matches. This behavior was in sharp contrast to that of Borg, who was painted by the tabloid press as an unflappable "ice man." Nevertheless, in matches played between the two, McEnroe never lost his temper.

But despite the controversy and merciless criticism from the British press (Ian Barnes of the Daily Express nicknamed him "SuperBrat"), McEnroe again made the Wimbledon men's singles final against Borg. And this time, McEnroe prevailed in four sets to end the Swede's run of 41 consecutive match victories at the All England Club. TV commentator Bud Collins quipped after the Independence Day battle, paraphrasing "Yankee Doodle", "Stick a feather in his cap and call it 'McEnroe-ni'!".

The controversy, however, did not end there. In response to McEnroe's on-court outbursts during the championships, the All England Club did not accord McEnroe honorary club membership, an honor normally given to singles champions after their first victory. McEnroe responded by not attending the traditional champions dinner that evening. He told the press: "I wanted to spend the evening with my family and friends and the people who had supported me, not a bunch of stiffs who are 70–80 years old, telling you that you're acting like a jerk." The honor was eventually accorded to McEnroe after he won the championship again.

Borg and McEnroe had their final confrontation in the final of the 1981 US Open. McEnroe won in four sets, becoming the first male player since the 1920s to win three consecutive US Open singles titles. Borg never played another Grand Slam event. McEnroe also won his second WCT Final, beating Johan Kriek in straight sets.

McEnroe lost to Jimmy Connors in the 1982 Wimbledon final. McEnroe lost only one set (to Johan Kriek) going into the final; however, Connors won the fourth set tiebreak and the fifth set to win the championship.

In 1983, McEnroe reached his fourth consecutive Wimbledon final, dropping only one set throughout the whole championship (to Florin Segărceanu), and swept aside the unheralded New Zealander Chris Lewis in straight-sets. He also played at the Australian Open for the first time, making it to the semifinals before being defeated in four sets by Mats Wilander. He made the WCT Final for the third time and beat Ivan Lendl in an epic five setter. He took the Masters Grand Prix title for the second time, again beating Lendl in straight sets.

At the 1984 French Open, McEnroe lost a close final match to Ivan Lendl. McEnroe was on the verge of beating Lendl after winning the first two sets, but Lendl's decision to use more topspin lobs and cross-court backhand passing shots, as well as fatigue and temperamental outbursts, got the better of McEnroe, allowing Lendl to win a dramatic five-setter. The loss ended a 42-match winning streak since the start of the season, and was the closest McEnroe ever came to winning the French Open. In his autobiography, McEnroe described this loss as his bitterest defeat and conveyed the impression that this was a shadow on his career that could never be chased off.

In the 1984 Wimbledon final, McEnroe played a virtually flawless match to defeat Connors in just 80 minutes, 6–1, 6–1, 6–2. That was McEnroe's third and final Wimbledon singles title. Again McEnroe had won Wimbledon while dropping just one set throughout the entire tournament, this time to Paul McNamee.

McEnroe won his fourth US Open title in 1984 by defeating Lendl in straight sets in the final after defeating Connors in a five-set semifinal.

He won his fourth WCT Final, defeating Jimmy Connors in five sets, and took his third Masters Grand Prix, beating Ivan Lendl in straight sets.

1984 was McEnroe's best year on the tennis tour, as he compiled an 82–3 record and won a career-high 13 singles tournaments, including Wimbledon and the US Open. He also was on the U.S.' winning World Team Cup and runner-up Davis Cup teams. The only male who has come close to matching McEnroe's 1984 win-loss record since then was Roger Federer in 2005. Federer was 81–3 before losing his last match of the year to David Nalbandian in five sets.

McEnroe's 1984 season did not end without controversy. While playing and winning the tournament in Stockholm, McEnroe had an on-court outburst that became notorious in sports highlight reels. After questioning a call made by the chair umpire, McEnroe demanded, "Answer the question, jerk!" McEnroe then slammed his racquet into a juice cart beside the court. He was suspended for 21 days for exceeding a $7,500 limit on fines that had been created because of his behavior.

In 1985, McEnroe reached his last Grand Slam singles final at the US Open. This time, he was beaten in straight sets by Lendl.

Taking time out

By 1986, the pressures of playing at the top had become too much for McEnroe to handle, and he took a six-month break from the tour. It was during this sabbatical that on August 1, 1986, he married actress Tatum O'Neal, with whom he had already had a son, Kevin (born May 23, 1986). They would go on to have two more children, Sean (born September 23, 1987) and Emily (born May 10, 1991), before divorcing in 1994. When he returned to the tour later in 1986, he won three ATP tournaments, but in 1987 he failed to win a title for the first time since turning pro. He took a seven-month break from the game following the US Open, where he was suspended for two months and fined US$17,500 for misconduct and verbal abuse.

Style of play

A left hander, McEnroe played a continental forehand, which by the 1980s had almost completely disappeared from the professional tour due to the high level of touch needed to master this shot, especially in on-the-run situations. His backhand was similarly continental and one-handed. His serve was unique in tennis. McEnroe would stand at least a meter from the center of the court with his back almost entirely to his opponent, thereby frustrating attempts at guessing whether he would pull the serve wide or jam his opponent. Few, including Pete Sampras, have managed to generate the extreme slice which sent his serve skidding low and wide. McEnroe was not known for a power game, but rather for his serve and volley mastery, a style of play that faded in the 1990s with the advent of rackets that enhanced the return of serve above the serve and made approaches to the net following a serve problematic for all but the finest exponents of the craft.

World No. 1 ranking

According to the Association of Tennis Professionals, McEnroe became the top-ranked singles player in the world on March 3, 1980. He was the top ranked player on 14 separate occasions between 1980 and 1985 and finished the year ranked World No. 1 four straight years from 1981 through 1984. He spent a total of 170 weeks at the top of the rankings.

Success in doubles

McEnroe has been called "the greatest doubles player of all time" and "possibly the greatest team player never to have played a team sport." He was ranked the World No. 1 in doubles for a record 257 weeks. He formed a powerful partnership with Peter Fleming, with whom he won 57 men's doubles titles, including four at Wimbledon and three at the US Open. (Fleming was always very modest about his own contribution to the partnership – he once said "the best doubles partnership in the world is John McEnroe and anybody else.") McEnroe won a fourth US Open men's doubles title in 1989 with Mark Woodforde, and a fifth Wimbledon men's doubles title in 1992 with Michael Stich. He also won the 1977 French Open mixed doubles title with childhood friend Mary Carillo.

Davis Cup

More than any other player in his era, McEnroe was responsible for reviving U.S. interest in the Davis Cup, which had been shunned by Jimmy Connors and other leading U.S. players, and had not seen a top U.S. player regularly compete since Arthur Ashe (Connors' refusal to play Davis Cup in lieu of lucrative exhibitions became a source of enmity between him and Ashe). In 1978, McEnroe won two singles rubbers in the final as the U.S. captured the cup for the first time since 1972, beating the United Kingdom in the final. McEnroe continued to be a mainstay of U.S. Davis Cup teams for the next 14 years and was part of U.S. winning teams in 1979, 1981, 1982, and 1992. He set numerous U.S. Davis Cup records, including years played (12), ties (30), singles wins (41), and total wins in singles and doubles (59). He played both singles and doubles in 13 series, and he and Peter Fleming won 14 of 15 Davis Cup doubles matches together.

An epic performance was McEnroe's 6-hour, 22-minute victory over Mats Wilander in the deciding rubber of the 3–2 quarterfinal win over Sweden in 1982, played in St. Louis, Missouri. McEnroe won the match, at the time the longest in Davis Cup history, 9–7, 6–2, 15–17, 3–6, 8–6.

McEnroe nearly broke that record in a 6-hour, 20-minute loss to Boris Becker five years later. Becker won their match, the second rubber in a 3–2 loss to West Germany in World Group Relegation play, 4–6, 15–13, 8–10, 6–2, 6–2.

McEnroe also helped the U.S. win the World Team Cup in 1984 and 1985.

Final years on the tour

McEnroe struggled to regain his form after his 1986 sabbatical. He lost three times in Grand Slam tournaments to Ivan Lendl, losing straight-set quarterfinals at both the 1987 US Open and the 1989 Australian Open and a long four-set match, played over two days, in the fourth round of the 1988 French Open. Rumors of drug abuse had begun during his second sabbatical. McEnroe denied them at the time, but acknowledged that he had used cocaine during his career in a 2000 interview that implied that the use occurred during this period, although he denied that the drug affected his play.

Nevertheless McEnroe had multiple notable victories in the final years of his career. In the 1988 French Open, McEnroe crushed 16-year old Michael Chang 6–0, 6–3, 6–1 in the third round; Chang would go on to win the title the next year. In 1989, McEnroe won a record fifth title at the World Championship Tennis Finals (the championship tournament of the WCT tour, which was being staged for the last time), defeating top-ranked Lendl in the semifinals. At Wimbledon, he defeated Mats Wilander in a four-set quarterfinal before losing to Stefan Edberg in a semifinal. He won the RCA Championships in Indianapolis and reached the final of the Canadian Open, where he lost to Lendl. He also won both of his singles rubbers in the quarterfinal Davis Cup tie with Sweden.

Controversy was never far from McEnroe, however; in his fourth round match against Mikael Pernfors at the 1990 Australian Open, McEnroe was ejected from the tournament for swearing at the umpire, supervisor, and referee. He was warned by the umpire for intimidating a lineswoman, and then docked a point for smashing a racket. McEnroe was apparently unaware that a new Code of Conduct, which had been introduced just before the tournament, meant that a third code violation would not lead to the deduction of a game but instead would result in immediate disqualification; therefore, when McEnroe unleashed a volley of abuse at umpire Gerry Armstrong, he was defaulted. He was fined $65,000 for the incidents.

Later that year, McEnroe reached the semifinals of the US Open, losing to the eventual champion, Pete Sampras in four sets. He also won the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, defeating Goran Ivanišević in a five-set final. The last time McEnroe was ranked in the world top ten was on October 22, 1990, when he was ranked 9th. His end-of-year singles ranking was 13th.

In 1991, McEnroe won the last edition of the Volvo Tennis-Chicago tournament by defeating his brother Patrick in the final. He won both of his singles rubbers in the quarterfinal Davis Cup tie with Spain. And he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon (losing to Edberg) and the third round at the US Open (losing to Chang in a five-set night match). His end-of-year singles ranking was 28th in the world.

In 1992, McEnroe defeated third-ranked and defending champion Boris Becker in the third round of the Australian Open 6–4, 6–3, 7–5 before a sell-out crowd. In the fourth round, McEnroe needed 4 hours 42 minutes to defeat ninth ranked Emilio Sánchez 8–6 in the fifth set. He lost to Wayne Ferreira in the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon, McEnroe reached the semifinals where he lost in straight sets to the eventual champion Andre Agassi. McEnroe teamed with Michael Stich to win his fifth Wimbledon men's doubles title in a record-length 5 hour 1 minute final, which the pair won 5–7, 7–6, 3–6, 7–6, 19–17. At the end of the year, he teamed with Sampras to win the doubles rubber in the Davis Cup final, where the U.S. defeated Switzerland 3–1.

McEnroe retired from the professional tour at the end of 1992. He ended his singles career ranked 20th in the world.

After retirement from the tour

McEnroe separated from O'Neal in 1992, and divorced in 1994. He married musician Patty Smyth in April 1997, with whom he has two daughters, Anna () and Ava (), and one stepdaughter, Ruby () from Smyth's previous marriage to rock star Richard Hell.

McEnroe met Smyth while pursuing his post-tour goal of becoming a rock star. He had learned to play guitar with the help of friends like Eddie Van Halen and Eric Clapton. During his divorce, McEnroe formed The Johnny Smyth Band with himself as lead singer and guitarist, began writing songs, and played small gigs in cities where he played with the senior tour. Although Lars Ulrich complimented his "natural instinct for music", a bar owner where McEnroe's band played said that "he couldn't sing to save his life." The band toured for two years, but McEnroe suddenly quit in 1997 just before finishing his first album.

McEnroe was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999. He now works as a sports commentator in tennis and has regularly appeared in US national telecasts of Grand Slam tennis matches on such networks as CBS, NBC, USA, and ESPN, as has his brother Patrick. He also commentates on Wimbledon for the BBC in the UK. McEnroe became the U.S. Davis Cup captain in September 1999. His team barely escaped defeat in their first two outings in 2000, beating Zimbabwe and the Czech Republic in tight 3–2 encounters. They were then defeated 5–0 by Spain in the semifinals. McEnroe resigned in November 2000 after 14 months as captain, citing frustration with the Davis Cup schedule and format as two of his primary reasons. His brother Patrick took over the job.

In July 2004, McEnroe began a CNBC talk show entitled ''McEnroe''. The show, however, was unsuccessful, twice earning a 0.0 Nielsen rating, and was cancelled within five months. He also hosted ''The Chair'' quiz show in both the U.K. and the U.S., but this venture also was unsuccessful. In 2002, McEnroe played himself in ''Mr. Deeds'' and again in 2008 in ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan''. McEnroe played himself in the 2004 movie ''Wimbledon''.

McEnroe is active in philanthropy and tennis development. For years he has co-chaired the CityParks Tennis charity benefit, an annual fundraiser produced by the City Parks Foundation. The charitable event raises crucial funds for New York City's largest municipal youth tennis programs. He collects American contemporary art, and opened a gallery in Manhattan in 1993.

McEnroe plays on two senior tours, the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions and the Outback Champions Series. He is a TV commentator at major tournaments. Many players and tennis experts agree that McEnroe's level of play is still high enough for him to compete on the professional level. In charity events and World Team Tennis, he has beaten many top players, including Mardy Fish and Mark Philippoussis.

In 2007, McEnroe appeared on the NBC comedy ''30 Rock'' as the host of a game show called "Gold Case" in which he uttered his famous line "You cannot be serious!" when a taping went awry. McEnroe also appeared on the HBO comedy ''Curb Your Enthusiasm''. right|thumb|John McEnroe, Champions Cup Boston 2007 In 2009, McEnroe appeared on 30 Rock again, in the episode Gavin Voloure, where Steve Martin (playing the title character) invites him to dinner because he is of the world of "Art critique and yelling."

During the 2009 US Open, McEnroe and Serbian star Novak Djokovic shared a comic on-court moment after Djokovic's fourth-round win over Radek Štěpánek. Djokovic, known for his off-court impersonations of other star players (many of them his friends), mimicked McEnroe's pre-service ritual and some of his best-known antics before motioning McEnroe to come down from the press box to join him. McEnroe loosened his shirt, grabbed a racquet, and then proceeded to mimic Djokovic's pre-serve ritual. The two then played a few points, ending with McEnroe hitting a winning cross-court volley; they then congratulated one another at the net.

Return to the tour

McEnroe returned to the ATP Tour in 2006 to play two doubles tournaments.

In his first tournament, he teamed with Jonas Björkman to win the title at the SAP Open in San Jose. This was McEnroe's first title since capturing the Paris Indoor doubles title in November 1992 with his brother Patrick. The win meant that McEnroe had won doubles titles in four different decades and surpass Tom Okker for the second highest number (71) of doubles titles in history (trailing Todd Woodbridge).

In his second tournament, McEnroe and Björkman lost in the quarter-finals of the tournament in Stockholm.

Career statistics

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;font-size:97% !Tournament!!1977!!1978!!1979!!1980!!1981!!1982!!1983!!1984!!1985!!1986!!1987!!1988!!1989!!1990!!1991!!1992!!width=65|Career SR!!width=65|Career W-L!!width=65|Win % |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|Australian Open | | | | | | |bgcolor=yellow|SF | |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |NH | | |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R | |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF !0 / 5 !18–5 !78.26 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|French Open |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R | | |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF | |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=yellow|SF | |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R | | |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R !0 / 10 !25–10 !71.43 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|Wimbledon |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF | | |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=yellow|SF !3 / 14 !59–11 !84.29 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|US Open |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R !4 / 16 !66–12 !84.62 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|'''Grand Slam W-L !9–3 !5–2 !9–1 !15–2 !18–1 !11–2 !18–3 !20–1 !18–4 !0–1 !4–2 !5–3 !10–3 !8–3 !5–3 !12–4 !7 / 45 !168–38 !81.55 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|Year End Ranking |21 |bgcolor=#eee8AA|4 |bgcolor=#eee8AA|3 |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|2 |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''1 |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''1 |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''1 |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''1 |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|2 |14 |bgcolor=#eee8AA|10 |11 |bgcolor=#eee8AA|4 |13 |28 |20 !colspan=3|Career money: $12,547,797 |}

Pop-culture appearances

McEnroe's fiery temper led to him being parodied in pop culture. In 1982, British impressionist Roger Kitter made a record called ''Chalk Dust: The Umpire Strikes Back'' in which he parodied McEnroe losing his temper during a match. Kitter made the record as "The Brat", and it reached the UK Top 20.

His bursts of rage were parodied in the satirical British programme 'Spitting Image', where he and wife Tatum frequently screamed and threw things at each other. He was also lampooned in the Australian ''The Paul Hogan Show'', in which Paul Hogan played "John MacEnhoax" who used a handshake to fling his opponent, destroying a tennis court.

At the height of his career, NBC-TV's tennis coverage included a piece with clips of his many on-court tantrums, underscored by the Men at Work hit song, ''Be Good Johnny''.

McEnroe has also been given roles in TV and film where he playfully acknowledges his belligerence such as in his appearance in a 2005 car commercial for the SEAT Altea where he shouts "Clearly inside the line" at an officer who has ticketed him for parking incorrectly. He also portrays himself in the 2002 film ''Mr. Deeds'' where he lauds the title character for assaulting an antagonist, and has a scene in the film ''Anger Management'', most of which was cut—leaving only a short shot of him sleeping on the floor of the psychiatrist's office. The full scene is on the DVD.

Commercials

Appeared as the Hooded Menace in Oreo's Team Double Stuff Racing League sketch in 2011.

Television and filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Production ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |1996 | ''Arliss'' | Himself | Episode: "Crossing the Line" |- |1997 | ''Suddenly Susan'' | Himself | Episode: "I'll See That and Raise You Susan" |- |1998 | ''Frasier'' | Patrick (radio show caller) | Episode: "Sweet Dreams" |- | rowspan=2|2002

| ''The Chair''

| Himself

| Hosted for 13 episodes

|-

| ''Mr. Deeds''

| Himself

|

|-

| rowspan=2|2003

| ''Anger Management''

| Himself

|

|-

| ''Saturday Night Live''

| Himself

| Episode 552, broadcast November 8

|-

| 2004 | ''Wimbledon'' | Himself/commentator |

|-

|2006

| ''Parkinson''

| Himself

| broadcast December 16

|-

| rowspan=4|2007

| ''30 Rock''

| Himself

| Episode: “The Head and the Hair” |-

| WFAN Breakfast Show

| Himself

| Co-hosted with brother Patrick on May 8 and May 9

|-

| ''CSI: NY''

| Himself

| Episode: “Comes Around”

|-

| ''Curb Your Enthusiasm''

| Himself

| Episode: “The Freak Book” |-

| rowspan=2|2008 | ''30 Rock'' | Himself | Episode: "Gavin Volure"

|-

| ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan''

| Himself

| |- | 2009 |''Penn & Teller: Bullshit!'' | Himself | “Stress” |- | 2010 |''Saturday Night Live'' | Uncredited | Episode 692, broadcast December 18 |- |}

In music

McEnroe is mentioned in the song "Love Child" by Fibes, Oh Fibes!

McEnroe is mentioned in the House of Pain song "Jump Around" with the lyrics "I'll serve your ass like John McEnroe".

Punk band End of a Year reference his famous temper in the song "McEnroe."

McEnroe played with John Deacon of Queen in 1983, but the recordings were never published.

McEnroe's infamous outburst "You're the pits of the world" (from a Wimbledon 1st round in 1981, the same incident that produced his "You cannot be serious" line) was quoted as the last line of the Pretenders song "Pack It Up", from their 1981 album Pretenders II

McEnroe is mentioned on the song "Too Small to Fail," by forgetters, "I threw a McEnroe!" from their debut EP

McEnroe has a cameo in the music video for the song "I Just Had Sex" (feat. Akon) by The Lonely Island

McEnroe is mentioned in the songs 'Rodéo' and 'MC Enroe's Poetry' by the French band Dionysos.

Mentioned in the song "All Things Considered" by the space rock band "The Mad Conductor".

See also

MacCAM, an instant replay system used by CBS and other networks, named after McEnroe.

World number one male tennis player rankings.

Tennis male players statistics.

List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions

Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

Borg-McEnroe rivalry

References

Further reading

Video

''The Wimbledon Collection – Legends of Wimbledon – John McEnroe'' Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: September 21, 2004, Run Time: 52 minutes, ASIN: B0002HOD9U

''The Wimbledon Collection – The Classic Match – Borg vs. McEnroe 1981 Final'' Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: September 21, 2004, Run Time: 210 minutes, ASIN: B0002HODAE

''The Wimbledon Collection – The Classic Match – Borg vs. McEnroe 1980 Final'' Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: September 21, 2004, Run Time: 240 minutes; ASIN: B0002HOEK8

''Charlie Rose with John McEnroe (February 4, 1999)'' Charlie Rose, DVD Release Date: September 18, 2006, ASIN: B000IU3342

External links

Official Wimbledon website profile

BBC profile

John McEnroe's ESPN Bio

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Name	Novak DjokovicНовак ЂоковићNovak Đoković
Nickname	''Nole''''The Djoker''
Country	(2003–2006) (2006–present)
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Birth date	May 22, 1987
Birth place	Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia (now Serbia)
Height
Weight
Turnedpro	2003
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	$35,182,760 4th All-time leader in earnings
Singlesrecord	401–111 (78.32%)
Singlestitles	29
Highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (4 July 2011)
Currentsinglesranking	No. 1 (16 January 2012)
Australianopenresult	W (2008, 2011, 2012)
Frenchopenresult	SF (2007, 2008, 2011)
Wimbledonresult	W (2011)
Usopenresult	W (2011)
Othertournaments	Yes
Masterscupresult	W (2008)
Olympicsresult	20px Bronze Medal (2008)
Doublesrecord	31–43 (41.89%)
Doublestitles	1
Grandslamsdoublesresults	yes
Australianopendoublesresult	1R (2006, 2007, 2012)
Frenchopendoublesresult	1R (2006)
Wimbledondoublesresult	2R (2006)
Usopendoublesresult	1R (2006)
Highestdoublesranking	No. 114 (30 November 2009)
Currentdoublesranking	No. 238 (16 January 2012)
Updated	13:38, 27 January 2012 (UTC) }}

}} Novak Djokovic (; ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked World No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) since 4 July 2011. He has won five Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008, 2011 and 2012 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open. By winning three Majors in 2011, Djokovic became the sixth male player in the open era to win three Majors in a calendar year. He is the first male player representing Serbia to win a Major singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events, separately and consecutively. Amongst other titles, he won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008 and was also on the team which won the 2010 Davis Cup.

Early and personal life

Djokovic was born 22 May 1987, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, to father Srđan (Срђан) and mother Dijana (Дијана). His two younger brothers, Marko and Đorđe (Ђорђе), are also tennis players with professional aspirations. Residing in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Djokovic has been coached since 2006 by a former Slovak tennis player, Marián Vajda. Similar to fellow pro Roger Federer, Djokovic is a self-described fan of languages, speaking four himself: his native Serbian, English, German, and Italian. Since the end of 2005, Djokovic has been dating Jelena Ristić.

He started playing tennis at the age of four. In the summer 1993, the six-year-old was spotted by Yugoslav tennis legend Jelena Genčić at Mount Kopaonik where Djokovic's parents ran a fast-food parlour. Upon seeing the dedicated and talented youngster in action, she stated: "This is the greatest talent I have seen since Monica Seles." Genčić worked with young Djokovic over the following six years before realizing that, due to his rapid development, going abroad in search of increased level of competition was the best option for his future. To that end, she contacted Nikola Pilić, and in September 1999, the 12-year-old moved to the Pilić tennis academy in Oberschleißheim, Germany, spending four years there. At age 14, he began his international career, winning European championships in singles, doubles, and team competition.

Djokovic is 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 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.

Djokovic is a Serbian Orthodox Christian. On 28 April 2011, Patriarch Irinej of Serbia awarded Djokovic the Order of St. Sava I class, the highest decoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church, 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.

He is a keen fan of Serbian football club Red Star Belgrade, Italian Serie A side A.C. Milan and Portuguese club S.L. Benfica. Djokovic is good friends with fellow Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanović, whom he has known since the two were children growing up in Serbia.

Tennis career

Early career

As a member of the FR Yugoslavia national team, he reached the finals of the 2001 Junior Davis Cup for players under 14, in which he lost his match in singles.

At the beginning of his professional career, Djokovic mainly played in Futures and Challenger tournaments, winning three of each type from 2003 to 2005. His first tour-level tournament was Umag in 2004, where he lost to Filippo Volandri in the round of 32. He made his first Grand Slam tournament appearance by qualifying for the 2005 Australian Open, where he was defeated by Marat Safin in the first round.

2006

Djokovic briefly considered plans to move from Serbia to play for Britain. He reached the top 40 world ranking due to a quarterfinal appearance at the French Open, and reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Three weeks after Wimbledon, he won his maiden ATP title at the Dutch Open in Amersfoort without losing a set, defeating Nicolás Massú in the final. Djokovic won his second career title at the Open de Moselle in Metz, and moved into the top 20 for the first time in his career.

2007

Djokovic began the year by defeating Australian Chris Guccione in the final of the ATP Adelaide, before losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open to eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets. His performances at the Masters Series events in Indian Wells, California and Key Biscayne, Florida, where he was the runner-up and champion respectively, pushed him into the world's top 10. Djokovic lost the Indian Wells final to Rafael Nadal, but defeated Nadal in Key Biscayne in the quarterfinals before defeating Guillermo Cañas for the title in the finals.

Right after his first master series title, he went back home to contribute to his country's attempt to get into the World Group of the Davis Cup competition. Serbia faced off the Republic of Georgia, and Djokovic won a point by defeating Georgia's George Chanturia. This was a tournament where he prepared for the later clay court season. Djokovic played in the Masters Series Monte Carlo Open, where he was defeated by David Ferrer in the third round, and in the Estoril Open, where he defeated Richard Gasquet in the final. Djokovic then reached the quarterfinals of both the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome and the Masters Series Hamburg, but lost to Nadal and Carlos Moyà respectively. At the French Open, Djokovic reached his first Major semifinal, losing to eventual champion Nadal.

During Wimbledon, Djokovic won a five-hour quarterfinal against Marcos Baghdatis. In his semifinal match against Rafael Nadal, he was forced to retire with elbow problems in the 3rd set after winning the first and losing the 2nd set.

Djokovic went on to win the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Montreal. He defeated world no. 3 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, world no. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, and world no. 1 Federer in the final. This was the first time a player had defeated the top three ranked players in one tournament since Boris Becker in 1994. Djokovic was also only the second player, after Tomáš Berdych, to have defeated both Federer and Nadal since they became the top two players in the world. After this tournament, Björn Borg stated that Djokovic "is definitely a contender to win a Grand Slam (tournament)." However, the following week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Djokovic lost in the second round to Moyà in straight sets. Djokovic nevertheless reached the final of the US Open. Djokovic had five set points in the first set and two in the second set, but lost them all before losing the final to top-seeded Federer in straight sets. During the 2007 tournament, Djokovic emerged as a fan favorite with his on-court impressions of other players including Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, and Maria Sharapova.

Djokovic won his fifth title of the year at the BA-CA TennisTrophy in Vienna, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka in the final. His next tournament was the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid, where he lost to David Nalbandian in the semifinals. Djokovic, assured of finishing the year as world no. 3, qualified for the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, but did not advance beyond the round robin matches.

He received a golden badge award for the best athlete in Serbia, and the Olympic Committee of Serbia declared him the best athlete.

2008

Djokovic started the year by playing the Hopman Cup with fellow Serbian world no. 3 Jelena Janković. While he won all his round-robin matches, the team lost 1–2 in the final to the second-seeded American team consisting of Serena Williams and Mardy Fish.

At the Australian Open, Djokovic reached his second consecutive Major final without dropping a set, including a victory over two-time defending champion Roger Federer in the semifinals. By reaching the semifinals, Djokovic became the youngest player to have reached the semifinals in all four Majors. In the final, Djokovic defeated unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets to earn Serbia's first Grand Slam singles title. This marked the first time since the 2005 Australian Open that a Grand Slam singles title was not won by Federer or Nadal.

Djokovic's next tournament was the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, where he lost in the semifinals to Andy Roddick.

At the Masters Series Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Djokovic won his ninth career singles title, defeating American Mardy Fish in the three-set final.

Djokovic won his tenth career singles title and fourth Master Series singles crown at the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome. The following week at the Hamburg Masters, Djokovic lost to Nadal in the semifinals. At the French Open, Djokovic was the third-seeded player behind Federer and Nadal. Djokovic lost to Nadal in the semifinals in straight sets.

On grass, Djokovic once again played Nadal, this time in the Artois Championships final in Queen's Club, London, losing in two sets. At Wimbledon, Djokovic was the third seeded player; however, he lost in the second round to Marat Safin. This ended a streak of five consecutive Majors where he had reached at least the semifinals.

Djokovic then failed to defend his 2007 singles title at the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Toronto. He was eliminated in the quarterfinals by eighth-seeded Andy Murray. The following week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Djokovic advanced to the final, beating Nadal. In the final, he again lost to Murray in straight sets.

His next tournament was the Beijing Olympics, his first Olympics. He and Nenad Zimonjić, seeded second in men's doubles, were eliminated in the first round by the Czech pairing of Martin Damm and Pavel Vízner. Seeded third in singles, Djokovic lost in the semifinals to Nadal. Djokovic then defeated James Blake, the loser of the other semifinal, in the bronze medal match.

After the Olympics, Djokovic entered the US Open as the third seed. He defeated Roddick in the quarterfinals. To a smattering of boos in a post-match interview, Djokovic criticized Roddick for accusing him of making excessive use of the trainer during matches. His run at the US Open ended in the semifinals when he lost to Federer in four sets, in a rematch of the 2007 US Open final.

Djokovic played four tournaments after the US Open. In a rematch of the 2008 Australian Open final, he lost in the final of the Thailand Open to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. In November, Djokovic was the second seed at the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. In his first round-robin match, he defeated Argentine Juan Martín del Potro in straight sets. He then beat Nikolay Davydenko in three sets, before losing his final round robin match against Tsonga. Djokovic qualified for the semifinals, where he defeated Gilles Simon. In the final, Djokovic defeated Davydenko again to win his first Tennis Masters Cup title.

2009

Djokovic started the year at the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia, where he was upset by Ernests Gulbis in the first round. At the Medibank International in Sydney, he lost to Jarkko Nieminen in the semifinals.

As defending champion at the Australian Open, Djokovic retired from his quarterfinal match with former world no. 1 Andy Roddick.

After losing in the semifinals of the Open 13 tournament in Marseille to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Djokovic won the singles title at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating David Ferrer to claim his twelfth career title. The following week, Djokovic was the defending champion at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, but lost to Roddick in the quarterfinals. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, Djokovic beat Federer in the semifinals, before losing to Andy Murray in the final. Djokovic reached the final of the next ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on clay, losing to Rafael Nadal in the final. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, Djokovic was the defending champion, but again lost in the final.

Djokovic was the top seed at his hometown tournament, the Serbia Open in Belgrade. He defeated first-time finalist Łukasz Kubot to win his second title of the year. As third seed at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, Djokovic advanced to the semifinals without dropping a set. There, he faced Nadal and lost despite holding three match points. The match, at 4 hours and 3 minutes, was the longest three-set singles match on the ATP World Tour in the Open Era. At the French Open, he lost in the third round to German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Djokovic began his grass court season at the Gerry Weber Open where, after the withdrawal of Federer, he competed as the top seed. He advanced to the final, where he lost to German Tommy Haas. Djokovic also lost to Haas in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

During the US Open Series, Djokovic made the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, before losing to Andy Roddick. At the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Djokovic defeated world no. 3 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. He lost in the final to world no. 1 Roger Federer.

At the 2009 US Open, Djokovic made the semifinals, having dropped only two sets, defeating Ivan Ljubičić, 15th seed Radek Štěpánek and 10th seed Fernando Verdasco. He then lost to Roger Federer.

At the China Open in Beijing, he defeated Victor Hănescu, Viktor Troicki, Fernando Verdasco, and Robin Söderling en route to the final, where he defeated Marin Čilić in straight sets to win his third title of the year. At the inaugural Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, Djokovic lost in the semifinals to Nikolay Davydenko.

At the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, Djokovic defeated Jan Hernych to make it to the quarterfinals. He then recovered from a deficit to defeat Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. He won the semifinals against Radek Štěpánek. In the final, he defeated home favourite and three-time defending champion Roger Federer to win his fourth title of the year.

At the last Masters 1000 event of the year at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, Djokovic won his first Masters 1000 title of the year. He defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. In the final, Djokovic prevailed over Gaël Monfils.

Coming into the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London as the defending champion, Djokovic defeated Nikolay Davydenko in his first round-robin match. In his second match, he lost to Robin Söderling. Despite victory over Rafael Nadal in his third round-robin match, Djokovic failed to make the semifinals.

Djokovic ended the year as the world no. 3 for the third consecutive year. Djokovic played 97 matches throughout the year, the most of any player on the ATP World Tour, with a 78–19 win-loss record. In addition to leading the ATP World Tour in match wins, he reached a career best 10 finals, winning 5 titles.

2010

Djokovic started his year by playing in the Kooyong Classic, an exhibition event. In his first match, he defeated Tommy Haas, but lost to Fernando Verdasco in his second.

At the Australian Open, Djokovic was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets. Despite the loss, Djokovic attained a career-high ranking of world no. 2.

He reached the semifinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, losing to Mikhail Youzhny. At the Dubai Tennis Championships in the U.A.E., Djokovic reached the final, defeating Mikhail Youzhny to win his first title of the year.

He then took part in Serbia's Davis Cup tie against the USA on clay in Belgrade. He helped Serbia reach their first quarterfinal in the Davis Cup 3–2 victory, defeating Sam Querrey and John Isner.

At the Indian Wells Masters, he lost in the fourth round to Ivan Ljubičić. At the Miami Masters, he lost in his opening match to Olivier Rochus. Djokovic then announced that he had ceased working with Todd Martin as his coach.

In his first clay-court tournament of the year at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, top-seeded Djokovic reached the semifinals with wins over Stanislas Wawrinka and David Nalbandian. There, he lost to Fernando Verdasco. Djokovic again lost to Verdasco at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, this time in the quarterfinals.

As the defending champion at his hometown event, the Serbia Open in Belgrade, he withdrew in the quarterfinals while trailing Filip Krajinović.

Djokovic entered the 2010 French Open seeded third. He defeated Evgeny Korolev, Kei Nishikori, Victor Hănescu, and Robby Ginepri en route to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Jürgen Melzer in five sets.

Djokovic entered the 2010 Wimbledon Championships as third seed, defeating Olivier Rochus, Taylor Dent, Albert Montañés, Lleyton Hewitt, and Yen-Hsun Lu en route to the semifinals, which he lost to Tomáš Berdych in straight sets.

Djokovic then competed at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where he lost to Roger Federer in the semifinals. Djokovic also competed in doubles with Rafael Nadal in a one-time, high-profile partnership. That hadn't happened since 1976, when Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe as world no.1 and no.2 paired together as a doubles team. They lost in the first round to Canadians Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil. Djokovic lost in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati to Andy Roddick. As the third seed at the US Open, Djokovic came very close to losing in his opening round against Viktor Troicki in extreme heat. He then defeated Philipp Petzschner, James Blake and Mardy Fish, and number 17 seed Gaël Monfils, all in straight sets to reach the US Open semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. In the semifinals, Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in five sets. It was Djokovic's first victory over Federer at the US Open in four attempts, and his first victory over Federer in a Major since the 2008 Australian Open. Djokovic lost to Nadal in the final, a match that saw Nadal complete his career Grand Slam.

After helping Serbia defeat the Czech Republic 3–2 to make it to the Davis Cup final, Djokovic competed at the China Open as the top seed and defending champion. He won the title for the second successive year, after defeating Maoxin Gong, Mardy Fish (walkover), Gilles Simon, and John Isner en route to the final. Djokovic then defeated David Ferrer in the final.

At the Shanghai Masters, Djokovic made a semifinal appearance, losing to Roger Federer.

Djokovic played his final tournament of the year at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Djokovic was placed in Group A along with Rafael Nadal, Tomáš Berdych, and Andy Roddick. Djokovic won his first round-robin match against Berdych. He next lost to Nadal. He defeated Roddick in his final round-robin match and advanced to the semifinals. He lost to Roger Federer in two sets.

Djokovic went on to win his two singles rubbers in Serbia's Davis Cup finals victory over France. This started a long unbeaten run that went on into 2011. Djokovic finished the year ranked world no. 3, his fourth successive finish at this position.

He was awarded the title "Serbian Sportsman of the year" by the Olympic Committee of Serbia and "Serbian Athlete of the year" by DSL Sport.

2011

Djokovic won ten tournaments in 2011, including Grand Slam tournament victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Djokovic also captured a record-breaking five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, and set a new record for the most prize money won in a single season on the ATP World Tour (12.0 million dollars). His level dropped at season's end beginning with a back injury and ended with a poor showing at the ATP World Tour Finals. Djokovic finished the season with a 70–6 record and No. 1 in the world. Pete Sampras declared Djokovic's season as the best he has ever seen in his lifetime, calling it "one of the best achievements in all of sports." Boris Becker called Djokovic's season "one of the very best years in tennis of all time," adding that it "may not be the best statistically, but he’s beaten Federer, he’s beaten Nadal, he’s beaten everybody that came around to challenge him in the biggest tournaments in the world." Rafael Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in six finals on three different surfaces, described Djokovic's performances as "probably the highest level of tennis that I ever saw." Djokovic was named 2011 ITF World Champion.

2012

Djokovic began his season winning at the 2012 Australian Open. He won his first rounds against Paolo Lorenzi, Santiago Giraldo, Nicolas Mahut and Lleyton Hewitt. In the Quarter finals he defeated David Ferrer in three sets. In the semi final, Djokovic beat Andy Murray in five sets after 4 hours and 50 minutes. In the final, Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in five sets. At 5 hours and 53 minutes, the match was the longest final in Open Era Grand Slam history.

Davis Cup

In 2006, Djokovic got the decisive win on 9 April, against Great Britain by defeating Greg Rusedski in four sets in the fourth match, giving his team an unsurmountable 3–1 lead in their best-of-five series, thus keeping Serbia and Montenegro in the Group One Euro/African Zone of Davis Cup. Following this match-up, a lot of media buzz appeared about Djokovic's camp negotiating with the Lawn Tennis Association about changing his international loyalty by joining British tennis ranks. Nineteen-year-old Djokovic, who was no.63 on the ATP list at the time, mostly dismissed the story at first by saying that the talks were not serious, describing them as "the British being very kind to us after the Davis Cup". However, more than three years later, in October 2009, Djokovic confirmed that the talks between his family and the LTA throughout April and May 2006, were indeed serious:

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By winning all three of his matches, Djokovic played a key role in the 2007 play-off win over Australia, promoting the Serbia Davis Cup team to World Group in 2008. In Serbia's tie against Russia in early 2008, in Moscow, Djokovic was sidelined due to influenza and was forced to miss his first singles match. He returned to win his doubles match, teaming with Nenad Zimonjić, before being forced to retire during his singles match with Nikolay Davydenko. Djokovic also had a big role in promoting Serbia to the 2009 World Group. On 6–8 March 2010, he played the key role in bringing Serbia to World Group quarterfinals for the first time in its independent history, winning both singles matches in the home tie against United States (against Sam Querrey and John Isner). Later, Serbia progressed to the Davis Cup final, following the victories over Croatia (4–1) and Czech Republic (3–2). Serbia came from 1–2 down to defeat France in the final tie 3–2 in Belgrade to win the nation's first Davis Cup Championship. In the final, Djokovic scored two singles points for Serbia, defeating Gilles Simon and Gaël Monfils. He was the backbone of the Serbian squad, going 7–0 in singles rubbers to lead the nation to the title, although the honour of winning the deciding rubber in the final went to compatriot Viktor Troicki.

In the semi finals of the 2011 Davis Cup Djokovic played a crucial rubber match for Serbia against Juan Martin Del Potro playing for Argentina, which he lost 6–7, 0–3 having to retire due to a back injury sustained during the US Open tournament, which secured Argentina's place in the final defeating Serbia 3–2. This marked Djokovic's third loss of his 2011 season, and his second retirement.

Rivalries

Djokovic–Nadal rivalry

Djokovic and Nadal have met 30 times (the sixth-most head-to-head meetings in the Open Era) with Nadal having a 16–14 advantage. Nadal leads on grass 2–1 and clay 9–2, but Djokovic leads on hard courts 11–5. This rivalry is listed as the third greatest rivalry in the last decade by ATPworldtour.com and is considered by many to be the emerging rivalry. Djokovic is the only player to have at least ten match wins against Nadal and the only person to defeat Nadal seven times consecutively. The two share the record for the longest Australian Open and Grand Slam final match ever played (5 hours and 53 minutes) which was the 2012 Australian Open final, as well as the record for the longest match played in a best of three sets (4 hours and 3 minutes) which was the 2009 Mutua Madrid Open semi-final. In the 2011 Wimbledon final, Djokovic won in four sets, which was his first victory over Nadal in a Major. By doing so, he became the only person other than Federer to defeat Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament final. This rivalry is part of the "Trivalry" (a term coined by American sportscaster Mary Carillo), which includes the rivalries among the top three in tennis (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic). Djokovic also defeated Nadal in the 2011 US Open Final to capture his third major title of the year and fourth overall. By beating Nadal, Djokovic became the second player to defeat Nadal in more than one Grand Slam final (the other being Federer), and the only player to beat Nadal in a Slam final on a surface other than grass. In 2012, Djokovic defeated Nadal in the Australian Open final which made Nadal the first player to lose in three consecutive Grand Slam finals.

Djokovic-Federer rivalry

Djokovic and Federer have met 24 times, with Federer leading 14–10. Federer leads on all surfaces, although they have never met on grass. Djokovic is the only player other than Nadal who has defeated Federer in consecutive grand slam tournament matches. Federer ended Djokovic's 41-match winning start to the 2011 season at the 2011 French Open semi-finals which many consider to be a classic match. Djokovic played Federer in his first Major final at the 2007 US Open and lost in three sets. Djokovic has the second-most wins against Federer (after Nadal). The two have met five years in a row at the US Open with their last two meetings (in 2010 and 2011) being five-set matches in which Djokovic saved match points before going on to win.

Djokovic-Murray rivalry

Djokovic and Murray have met 11 times with Djokovic leading 7–4. Djokovic leads 2–0 on clay, and also 5–4 on hard courts. The two went to training camp together, and Murray won the first match they ever played as teenagers. The pair have met four times in finals, with Murray leading 3–1, however, their most important final was the 2011 Australian Open final, in which Djokovic won in straight sets. The other three finals were all ATP Masters 1000 finals, Murray won them all in straight sets, with the most recent being in Cincinnati 2011.

Playing style and equipment

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 the best in today's game. His best weapon is his backhand 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. Occasionally, Djokovic employs a well-disguised backhand underspin drop shot and sliced backhand. His drop shots still tend to be a drawback when hit under pressure and without proper preparation.

Djokovic commented on the modern style of play, including his own, in interview with Jim Courier after his semifinal win against Andy Murray in the 2012 Australian Open tournament:

Entering the pro circuit, Djokovic used Wilson rackets, continuing so until the end of 2008. At that time, he switched to Head rackets, using a custom paint job of the Head YouTek Speed Pro racquet. Starting with 2011 Australian Open, he began using Head's YouTek IG Speed MP 18/20. Djokovic uses a hybrid of Head Natural Gut in the mains and Luxilon Alu Power in the crosses.

After his 2011 victory in Montreal, tennis coach Nick Bollettieri stated that Djokovic is the most "complete" player of all time. He has the backhand, forehand, serve, second serve, movement, mentality, and can play equally well on any surface. In assessing his 2011 season, Jimmy Connors said that Djokovic gives his opponents problems by playing "a little bit old-school, taking the ball earlier, catching the ball on the rise, (and) driving the ball flat." Connors adds that a lot of the topspin that Djokovic's opponents drive at him comes right into his zone, thus his ability to turn defense into offense well.

Coaching and personal team

From fall 2005 until June 2006, Djokovic was coached by Riccardo Piatti who divided his time between the 18-year-old and Ivan Ljubičić. Player and coach reportedly parted ways over the latter's refusal to work full time with Djokovic.

Since June 2006, Djokovic has been coached by Slovakian former professional tennis player Marián Vajda. They met for the first time during that year's French Open, after which Vajda got hired to be the 19-year-old's coach. 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 July 2010, before the Davis Cup clash away at Croatia, Djokovic made another addition to his team – nutritionist Igor Četojević who additionally focuses on Chinese medicine and does acupuncture. He discovered the tennis player suffers from Celiac Disease and cannot eat gluten, purging it from his diet. It appeared to have worked as Djokovic began feeling stronger, quicker, and much more fit. After Djokovic's Wimbledon win in July 2011, Četojević left the team.

Sponsorships and business ventures

Djokovic endorses Serbian telecommunications company Telekom Srbija and German nutritional supplement brand FitLine.

Since turning professional in 2003, Djokovic wore Adidas clothing and footwear. 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). Since Sergio Tacchini doesn't make shoes, he continued with Adidas as his choice of footwear. From 2011, Djokovic began to wear custom Red and Blue Adidas Barricade 6.0's shoes, referring to the colours of the Serbian national flag.

Djokovic did television commercial spots and print ads for supermarket chain Idea, the Serbian arm of Croatian supermarket retailer Konzum.

In August 2011, Djokovic became the brand ambassador of Swiss watch manufacturer Audemars Piguet. Less than a month later, Djokovic signed a sponsorship deal with German car company Mercedes-Benz.

The business end of Djokovic's career was initially handled by Israeli managers Amit Naor and Allon Khakshouri. In June 2008, he signed with CAA Sports.

Investments

In 2005, as Djokovic moved up the tennis rankings, his family founded a legal entity in Serbia named Family Sport. Registered as a limited liability company, its initial focus was the restaurant business. The company's day-to-day operations are mostly handled by Novak's father Srdjan and uncle Goran expanded its activities into real estate, sports/entertainment event organization, and sports apparel distribution.

The company opened theme cafés named Novak Café, as well as Novak Café & Restaurant in the Belgrade's municipality of Novi Beograd.

In February 2008, the company reached an agreement with local authorities in the city of Kragujevac about jointly entering into a real estate development deal that was to include 4 hectares of city-owned land at Veliki Park being developed into a tennis center with 14 courts. But by 2010 the company pulled out of these plans.

In March 2008, Family Sport won a municipal authority-organized tender in Novi Beograd by submitting an €11 million bid for the 3.8 hectares of land located in Ivan Ribar neighbourhood; with the ambitious plan to build a big tennis center there. As of fall 2011, construction is yet to commence.

In 2009, the company managed to buy an ATP tournament known as the Dutch Open and bring it to Serbia where it became – Serbia Open. With the help of Belgrade city authorities, the tournament's inaugural edition was held during May 2009 at the city-owned 'Milan Gale Muškatirović' courts, located at an attractive spot in Dorćol neighbourhood.

On Monday, 4 July 2011, one day after Djokovic won Wimbledon, Family Sport organized the homecoming reception in front of the National Assembly building with more than 80,000 people gathering to greet him.

Grand Slam tournaments

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

''To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2012 Australian Open.''

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;font-size:98% |- !Tournament!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!2008!!2009!!2010!!2011!!2012!!width=50|SR!!width=50|W–L!!width=50|Win % |- |colspan=14 align=left|'''Grand Slam Tournaments |- |bgcolor=#efefef text-align:left|Australian Open |A |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=#efefef|3 / 8 |bgcolor=#efefef|32–5 |bgcolor=#efefef|86.49 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|French Open |A |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=| |bgcolor=#efefef|0 / 7 |bgcolor=#efefef|25–7 |bgcolor=#efefef|78.12 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|Wimbledon |A |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=| |bgcolor=#efefef|1 / 7 |bgcolor=#efefef|27–6 |bgcolor=#efefef|81.81 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|US Open |A |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=thistle|F |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=thistle|F |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=| |bgcolor=#efefef|1 / 7 |bgcolor=#efefef|33–6 |bgcolor=#efefef|84.62 |- !style=text-align:left|Win–Loss !0–0 !0–0 !5–4 !9–4 !19–4 !18–3 !15–4 !19–4 !25–1 !7–0 !5 / 29 !117–24 !82.98 |}

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 7 (5 titles, 2 runner-ups)

{|class="sortable wikitable" |- !width=80|Outcome !width=50|Year !width=200|Championship !width=75|Surface !width=200|Opponent in the final !width=200|Score in the final |- style="background:#ccf;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2007||US Open||Hard|| Roger Federer||6–7^(4–7), 6–7^(2–7), 4–6 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||2008||Australian Open||Hard|| Jo-Wilfried Tsonga||4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(7–2) |- style="background:#ccf;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2010||US Open (2)||Hard|| Rafael Nadal||4–6, 7–5, 4–6, 2–6 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||2011||Australian Open (2)||Hard|| Andy Murray||6–4, 6–2, 6–3 |- style="background:#cfc;" | style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner||2011 || Wimbledon || Grass || Rafael Nadal || 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3 |- style="background:#ccf;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||2011||US Open ||Hard|| Rafael Nadal||6–2, 6–4, 6–7^(3–7), 6–1 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||2012||Australian Open (3)||Hard|| Rafael Nadal||5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7^(5–7), 7–5 |}

Career statistics

From the 2010 Davis Cup finals to the 2011 French Open, Djokovic had a 43-match win streak, placing him behind Guillermo Vilas (46 matches in 1977) and Ivan Lendl (44 matches in 1981/1982).

He won 41 straight matches from the start of 2011 until the French Open semi-finals, second only to John McEnroe's record (he started 42–0 in 1984).

Novak Djokovic is one of only four players (besides David Nalbandian, Andy Murray, and Rafael Nadal) to beat Roger Federer three times in one calendar year, and one of only two players (Juan Martin Del Potro being the other) to beat both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam in consecutive matches. He is the only player who can claim to have beaten both Federer and Nadal in the same tournament on 4 different occasions (Montreal 2007, Indian Wells 2011, US Open 2011,). 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 three Andy Roddick, world number two Nadal, and World number one 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).

His five Masters titles in 2011 are a season record.

Awards and honours

Order of Saint 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 in Kosovo and Metohija.

List of awards

Best Male Tennis Player in Serbia and Montenegro: 2005

Best Male Tennis Player in Serbia: 20062011 Golden Badge of DSL Sport: 2007, 2010, 2011

ATP Most Improved Player of the Year: 2006, 2007

Best Sportsman by Olympic Committee of Serbia: 2007, 2010

ATP Player of the Year: 2011

ACE of the Year by GQ: 2011 Golden Bagel Award: 2011 ITF World Champion: 2011

BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year: 2011

Records

These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis and in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series since 1990.

{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" !Tournament !width=75|Year !Record !width=100|Players matched |- |Australian Open – French Open – Wimbledon – US Open |2007–2008 |Youngest player to have reached the semi-finals of all four Majors (20 years, 250 days old)||'''Stands alone |- |Australian Open |2011–2012 |2 consecutive titles||Ken Rosewall Guillermo Vilas Johan Kriek Mats Wilander Stefan Edberg Ivan Lendl Jim Courier Andre Agassi Roger Federer |- |Australian Open |2012 |Longest Grand Slam final match ||Rafael Nadal |- |Australian Open – Indian Wells Masters – Miami Masters |2011 |Winner of the hard court treble (Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami) ||Roger Federer Pete Sampras |- |ATP World Tour |2011 |Player to qualify earliest for the ATP World Tour Finals – 18 weeks, 6 days||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour Masters 1000 |2011 |Most titles in a season – 5||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour Masters 1000 |2011 |Most consecutive titles – 3||Rafael Nadal |- |ATP World Tour Masters 1000 |2011 |Longest winning streak – 31 ||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour Masters 1000 |2011 |Most finals in a season – 6 ||Roger Federer |- |Madrid Masters |2009 |Longest best-of-three sets men's singles match ever played (4 hours, 3 minutes) ||Rafael Nadal |- |Canada Masters |2007 |Youngest player to defeat the top 3 players in succession||'''Stands alone |- |Miami Masters |2007 |Youngest male champion (19 years, 316 days old)||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour |2007–2009 |Most consecutive weeks at world number 3 – 91||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour |2011 |Longest winning streak in finals vs. a current World no.1 in any season (Rafael Nadal – 5) (also defeated Nadal at 2011 US Open and 2012 Australian Open, where rankings were by then reversed) ||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour |2011 |Most prize money in one season ($12,619,803) ||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour |2006–2010 |Most years ended at world number 3 (4) ||Jimmy Connors |- |ATP World Tour |2006–2010 |Most consecutive weeks at world number 3 (91) ||'''Stands alone |}

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 contributions to the reputation of Serbs and Serbia around the world.

Owing to his extroverted personality, fluency in several languages, and willingness to go along with comedic concepts, Djokovic became a fixture on entertainment-based TV talk shows around the globe immediately upon achieving a measure of prominence via results on the tennis court. After winning the Australian Open, his first major, in early 2008, Djokovic appeared on American late-night programme ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''. Throughout spring 2009, during ATP Master Series tournaments in Madrid and Rome, respectively, the Serb was a guest on Pablo Motos' show ''El Hormiguero'' followed by an appearance on the ''Fiorello Show'' hosted by Italian comedian Rosario Fiorello. Djokovic's television appearances particularly intensified during his amazing run of form throughout 2011: after winning Wimbledon and reaching number one spot on the ATP list, he again appeared on Leno's ''Tonight Show'' as well as on Conan O'Brien's show on TBS. Djokovic's dramatic win at the US Open was followed by another television blitz including spots on ''Live with Regis and Kelly'', CBS' ''The Early Show'', NBC's ''Today'' as well as a walk-on appearance on ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon''. In mid-November 2011, he made a triumphant return to Rai 1's ''Fiorello Show''. In late November during the ATP World Tour Finals in London he was a guest on Sir David Frost's interview programme ''Frost Over the World'' on Al Jazeera English.

He was voted the 19th most influential man on AskMen.com's Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2011. On invitation from film producer Avi Lerner, Djokovic became part of the high-budget Hollywood movie production ''The Expendables 2'' in a cameo playing himself, which he shot on 29 November 2011 in a Sofia warehouse.

See also

Tennis performance timeline comparison (men)

ATP World Tour records

List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players

List of Grand Slam men's singles champions

List of non-Grand Slam tennis statistics and records

List of open era tennis records

ATP Awards

References

Further reading

External links

Official site

Novak Djokovic at Flickr

Novak Djokovic at Qwinki

Novak Djokovic at Tumblr

{{navboxes|title=Novak Djokovic in Grand Slam Tournaments |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Novak Djokovic's Achievements |list1= }}

Category:1987 births Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:Living people Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Serbia Category:Olympic medalists in tennis Category:Olympic tennis players of Serbia Category:People from Belgrade Category:People from Monte Carlo Category:Serbia and Montenegro male tennis players Category:Serbian expatriates in Monaco Category:Serbian male tennis players Category:Serbian Orthodox Christians Category:Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Wimbledon champions Category:World No. 1 tennis players Category:Hopman Cup competitors

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Name	Ivan Lendl
Nickname	The Terminator, Ivan the Terrible
Country	(1978–1992) (1992—present)
Residence	Goshen, Connecticut, US (1992— ), Vero Beach, Florida, US (2004— )
Birth date	March 07, 1960
Birth place	Ostrava, Czechoslovakia(now Czech Republic)
Height
Weight
Turnedpro	1978
Retired	December 20, 1999
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	$21,262,417 8th All-time leader in earnings
Tennishofyear	2001
Tennishofid	ivan-lendl
Singlesrecord	1071–239 (81.8%)
Singlestitles	144 including 94 listed by the ATP
Highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (February 28, 1983)
Australianopenresult	W (1989, 1990)
Frenchopenresult	W (1984, 1986, 1987)
Wimbledonresult	F (1986, 1987)
Usopenresult	W (1985, 1986, 1987)
Othertournaments	Yes
Masterscupresult	Masters W (1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987) WCT W (1982, 1985)
Doublesrecord	187–140 (57.2%)
Doublestitles	6
Highestdoublesranking	No. 20 (May 12, 1986)
Updated	July 13, 2007 }}

Ivan Lendl (born March 7, 1960) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Lendl captured eight Grand Slam singles titles. He competed in 19 Grand Slam singles finals, at the time a record for a man since surpassed by Roger Federer in 2009. He reached at least one Grand Slam final for 11 consecutive years, a record shared with Pete Sampras. Before the formation of the ATP Lendl reached a record 12 year end championships (equaled by John McEnroe). He won 2 WCT Finals titles and a record 5 Masters Grand Prix titles,tied with Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. He also won a record 22 Championship Series titles (1980–89) the precursors to the current ATP Masters 1000. Lendl first attained the World No. 1 ranking on February 28, 1983 and bolstered his claim to the top spot when he defeated John McEnroe in the 1984 French Open final. For much of the next five years, Lendl was the top ranked player until August 1990 (with a break from September 1988 to January 1989 when Mats Wilander was at the top). He finished four years ranked as the world's top player (1985–1987 and 1989) and was ranked No. 1 for a total of 270 weeks and set a new record previously held by Jimmy Connors since broken by Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

Lendl's game relied particularly on strength and heavy topspin from the baseline and helped usher in the modern era of "power tennis". He himself called his game as "hitting hot", a relentless all-court game that was coming to dominate in tennis.

Personal life

Lendl was born into a tennis family in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). His parents were top players in Czechoslovakia. (His mother Olga was at one point ranked the No. 2 woman player in the country). Lendl turned professional in tennis in 1978. He started to live in the United States in 1981, first at the home of mentor and friend Wojtek Fibak; later, in 1984, Lendl bought his own residence in Greenwich, Connecticut. Ivan applied for and received a U.S. Permanent Resident Card (also known as a Green Card) in 1987 and wanted to get U.S. citizenship as soon as possible to represent the USA in the 1988 Olympic Games and in Davis Cup. A bill in Congress to bypass the traditional five-year waiting procedure was rejected in 1988 because Czechoslovak authorities refused to provide the necessary waivers. He became a U.S. citizen on July 7, 1992.

On September 16, 1989, six days after losing the final of the US Open to Boris Becker, Lendl married Samantha Frankel. They have five daughters: Marika (born May 4, 1990), twins Isabelle and Caroline (born July 29, 1991), Daniela (born June 24, 1993), and Nikola (born January 20, 1998). He transferred his competitive interests to professional golf where he achieved a win on the Celebrity Tour. Still competitive at the mini-tour levels, Lendl now devotes much of his time managing the development of his daughters' golfing abilities. Two of his daughters (Marika and Isabelle) are members of the University of Florida Women's Golf Team. Daniela is a member of the University of Alabama Women's Golf Team. His daughters Caroline and Nikola enjoy eventing horses.

South African exhibition and aftermath

In July 1983, Lendl played three exhibition matches (against Johan Kriek, Kevin Curren, Jimmy Connors) in Sun City, in the apartheid-era bantustan of Bophuthatswana. The Czechoslovak Sport Federation (ČSTV), controlled by the Communist Party, expelled him from the Czechoslovak Davis Cup team and fined him $150,000. Lendl disagreed with the punishment and fine.

In addition, the publication of his name and results in the Czechoslovak media was prohibited. The ban was extended not only to Lendl, but to anything about world tennis, all tennis tournaments and both men's and women's circuits (with the exception of blank Grand Slam results).

The appearance in this exhibition in Sun City and Lendl's Americanized living style ignited a long-lasting dispute between Lendl and the Czechoslovak communist authorities, which was never settled and resulted in his decision to apply for a green card in 1987 and later on for U.S. citizenship.

Playing style

Lendl was known, along with Björn Borg, for using his heavy topspin forehand to dictate play. His trademark shot was his running forehand, which he could direct either down the line or cross-court.

Early in his career Lendl played a sliced backhand, but in the early 1980s he learned to hit his backhand with significant topspin. This shift allowed him to defeat John McEnroe in 1984 in the French Open – Lendl's first Grand Slam victory. In the first two sets McEnroe used his habitual proximity to the net to intercept Lendl's cross-court passing shots. In the third set Lendl started using lobs, forcing McEnroe to distance himself from the net to prepare for the lobs. McEnroe's further distance from the net opened the angles for Lendl's cross-court passing shots, which ultimately gained Lendl points and turned the match around.

Lendl's serve was powerful but inconsistent. His very high toss may have been to blame. Lendl's consistency from the baseline was machine-like. Though tall and apparently gangly, Lendl was very fast on the court. Lendl did not win Wimbledon because he could not sufficiently improve his consistency at the net. Grass courts yield notoriously bad bounces, and that destabilized his baseline game more than other baseliners. His groundstroke setup was very complete, almost robotic and repeated bad bounces made him uncomfortable. Wimbledon in those days required reducing baseline play by coming to the net. He devoted considerable effort to improving his net play, but fell short of a Wimbledon title. Toward the end of his days on the ATP tour Lendl ended his long term clothing, shoe and racket deal with Adidas. He signed with Mizuno, and finally began to play with a mid-sized racket very similar to the Adidas racket he had used throughout most of his career, itself based on the Kneissl White Star model.

Tennis career

Lendl first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player. In 1978, he won the boys' singles titles at both the French Open and Wimbledon and was ranked the World No. 1 junior player.

Lendl made an almost immediate impact on the game after turning professional. After reaching his first top-level singles final in 1979, he won seven singles titles in 1980, including three tournament wins in three consecutive weeks on three different surfaces. The success continued in 1981 as he won 10 titles including his first season ending Masters Grand Prix tour title defeating Vitas Gerulaitis in five sets.

In 1982, he won in total 15 of the 23 singles tournaments he entered and had a 44-match winning streak.

He competed on the separate World Championship Tennis (WCT) tour where he won all 10 WCT tournaments he entered, including winning his first WCT Finals where he defeated John McEnroe in straight sets. He met McEnroe again in the Masters Grand Prix final and won in straight sets to claim his second season ending championship of that particular tour.

In an era when tournament prize money was rising sharply due to the competition between 2 circuits (Grand Prix and WCT), Lendl's haul of titles quickly made him the highest-earning tennis player of all time.

He won another seven tournaments in 1983.

But Grand Slam titles eluded Lendl in the early years of his career. He reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open in 1981, where he lost in five sets to Björn Borg. His second came at the US Open in 1982, where he was defeated by Jimmy Connors. In 1983, he was the runner-up at both the Australian Open and the US Open.

Lendl's first Grand Slam title came at the 1984 French Open, where he defeated John McEnroe in a long final to claim what was arguably his best victory. Down two sets to love and later trailing 4–2 in the fourth set, Lendl battled back to claim the title 3–6, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, 7–5. McEnroe gained a measure of revenge by beating Lendl in straight sets in both finals of the US Open 1984 and Volvo Masters 1984 (played in January 1985).

Lendl lost in the final of the 1985 French Open to Mats Wilander. He then faced McEnroe again in the final of the US Open, and this time it was Lendl who emerged victorious in a straight sets win. It was the first of three consecutive US Open titles for Lendl and part of a run of eight consecutive US Open finals. He reached the WCT Finals for the second and last time defeating Tim Mayotte in three sets. Success continued when he also took the Masters Grand Prix title for the third time defeating Boris Becker in straight sets.

In 1986 and 1987 he added wins in the French Open to his U.S Open victories including the season ending 1986 and 1987 Masters Grand Prix championship titles, Where he defeated Boris Becker (86) in straight sets and Mats Wilander (87) in three sets. This took him to his fifth and last Grand Prix year end tour title.

During each of the years from 1985 through 1987, Lendl's match winning percentage was greater than 90%. This record was equalled by Roger Federer in 2006. Lendl, however, remains the only male tennis player with at least 90% match wins in five different years (1982 was the first, 1989 the last). From the 1985 US Open through the 1988 Australian Open, Lendl reached ten consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals—a record that was broken by Federer at the 2006 US Open.

1989 was another very strong year for Lendl. He started the year by capturing his first Australian Open title with a straight sets final victory over Miloslav Mečíř and went on to claim 10 titles out of 17 tournaments he entered. Lendl successfully defended his Australian Open title in 1990.

The only Grand Slam singles title Lendl never managed to win was Wimbledon. After reaching the semifinals in 1983 and 1984, he reached the final there twice, losing in straight sets to Boris Becker in 1986 and Pat Cash in 1987. In the years that followed, Lendl put in intensive efforts to train and hone his game on grass courts. But despite reaching the Wimbledon semifinals again in 1988, 1989 and 1990, he never again reached the final.

Lendl was part of the team that won Czechoslovakia's only Davis Cup title in 1980. He was the driving force behind the country's team in the first half of the 1980s but stopped playing in the event after he moved to the United States in 1986 because, in the eyes of communist Czechoslovakia's Tennis Association, he was an "illegal defector" from their country.

Lendl was also part of the Czechoslovakian team that won the World Team Cup in 1981 and was runner-up in 1984 and 1985.

Lendl's success in the game was due in large part to his highly meticulous and intensive training and physical conditioning regime, his scientific approach to preparing for and playing the game, and a strong desire to put in whatever it took to be successful. It is believed that a contributing factor to his run of eight successive US Open finals and long record of success at that tournament was that he hired the same workers who laid the hardcourt surfaces at Flushing Meadows each year to install an exact copy in the grounds of his home in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Lendl announced his retirement from professional tennis on December 21, 1994, due to chronic back pain. Although he didn't play any official match following his defeat in the 2nd round of the US Open in 1994, Lendl's final decision to retire came only three and a half months later.

Lendl won a total of 94 career singles titles listed by the ATP (plus 49 other non-ATP tournaments, thus making a total of 144 singles titles) and 6 doubles titles, and his career prize money of U.S. $21,262,417 was a record at the time. In 2001, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

After finishing his tennis career, Lendl took up golf, earning a handicap of 0 and organizing a charity competition in 2004 called the "Ivan Lendl Celebrity Golf Tournament".

Lendl's professional attitude, modern playing style, scientific training methods, and unprecedented long-term success have had a considerable impact on today's tennis world. A typical Lendl quote is: "If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can."'

Ivan Lendl's return to tennis was announced on February 2, 2010 at a press conference announcing the Caesars Tennis Classic exhibition match scheduled for April 10, 2010 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Lendl will be playing his rival from the late 1980s, Mats Wilander, in a one set match. This will be Lendl's first tournament since his 1994 retirement. Venus Williams will host the tournament and additional matches will include US men's #1 Andy Roddick versus the recently retired Marat Safin.

On February 28, 2011, Lendl returned to the court in an exhibition with McEnroe at Madison Square Garden. It was planned to be a one-set, first-to-eight event. However, McEnroe, leading 6–3, injured his ankle and had to retire from the match.

Career statistics

Singles performance timeline

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;font-size:97% |-bgcolor=#efefef !Name!!1978!!1979!!1980!!1981!!1982!!1983!!1984!!1985!!1986!!1987!!1988!!1989!!1990!!1991!!1992!!1993!!1994!!Career SR!!Career W-L |- |colspan=21 align=left|'''Grand Slams |- |bgcolor=#EFEFEF align=left|Australian Open | | |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R | | |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=yellow|SF |NH |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#EFEFEF|2 / 12 |bgcolor=#EFEFEF|48–10 |- |bgcolor=#EFEFEF align=left|French Open |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R | | |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#EFEFEF|3 / 15 |bgcolor=#EFEFEF|53–12 |- |bgcolor=#EFEFEF align=left|Wimbledon | |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R | |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R | |bgcolor=#EFEFEF|0 / 14 |bgcolor=#EFEFEF|48–14 |- |bgcolor=#EFEFEF align=left|US Open | |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#EFEFEF|3 / 16 |bgcolor=#EFEFEF|73–13 |- |bgcolor=#EFEFEF align=left|'''Grand Slam W-L !0–1 !4–3 !9–4 !9–3 !9–2 !20–4 !20–3 !20–3 !20–1 !24–2 !20–4 !21–3 !16–2 !13–3 !12–4 !1–4 !4–3 !8 / 57 !222–49 |- |colspan=21 align=left|'''Year-End Championships |- |bgcolor=#EFEFEF align=left|The Masters | | |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=yellow|SF | | | !5 / 12 !40–10 |- |bgcolor=#EFEFEF align=left|WCT Finals | | | | |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W |bgcolor=#D8BFD8|F | |bgcolor=#00ff00|'''W | | | | | | | | | !2 / 4 ! |}

NH = tournament not held

A = did not participate in the tournament

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

Records Grand Slam/Other

These records were attained in Open Era of tennis.

Combined year end championships are: WCT Finals, ATP World Tour Finals

{|class="wikitable" |-bgcolor="#efefef" |width=200|Grand Slam/Other||width=50|Years||width=200|Record accomplished||width=200|Player tied |- |Australian Open||1989–91||3 consecutive singles finals||Mats Wilander |- |Australian Open||1989–90||2 consecutive singles titles||Ken Rosewall, Guillermo Vilas
Johan Kriek, Mats Wilander
Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier
Andre Agassi, Roger Federer |- |French Open||1984–87||4 consecutive singles finals||Björn Borg
Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal |- |US Open||1982–89||8 consecutive singles finals||Stands alone |- |US Open||1982–89||8 finals overall||Pete Sampras |- |US Open||1985–87||win/loss (sets) overall 95.5% (63/3)||Stands alone |- |US Open||1985–87||win/loss (sets) single season 3 years consecutive 95.5% (21/1)||Stands alone |- |Grand Slam Tournaments ||1981–86||Runner-up at all four || Roger Federer |- |Grand Slam Tournaments ||1981–91||11 consecutive years reaching at least one final || Pete Sampras |- |Grand Slam Tournaments||1983–89|| 7 consecutive years with 20 match wins ||Roger Federer |- |Combined year end championships WCT GP||1980–88||12 finals overall ||John McEnroe |- |Grand Prix Tour Finals ||1981–87||5 titles won||Roger Federer
Pete Sampras |- |Grand Prix Tour Finals ||1980–88||9 consecutive finals||Stands alone |- |Grand Prix Tour Finals ||1980–88||9 finals overall||Stands alone |- |Grand Prix Tour Finals ||1980–91||12 semi finals overall||Stands alone |- |Grand Prix Tour Finals ||1985|| Won championship without losing a set||John McEnroe |- |Grand Prix Tour ||1980–89|| 22 titles Championship Series || Stands alone |- |Grand Prix Tour ||1980–89|| 31 finals overall Championship Series || Stands alone |- |Grand Prix Tour ||1981–83|| 66 match winning streak indoors || Stands alone |- |Grand Prix Tour ||1981–83|| 18 consecutive finals || Stands alone |- |Grand Prix Tour ||1981–82|| 8 consecutive titles || John McEnroe |- |Grand Prix Tour ||1982|| 9 carpet court titles (single year) || Stands alone |- |Grand Prix & ATP Tour ||1983–93|| 5 wins single tournament Tokyo || Stands alone |- |Grand Prix Tour ||1980–89|| 6 wins single tournament Canadian Open || Stands alone |- |Grand Prix & ATP Tour ||1980–93|| 14 consecutive years winning at least 1 title || Stands alone |- |Grand Prix & ATP Tour ||1983–93||career match win percentage (hard courts) 82.59% (477/394)|| Stands alone |- |Grand Prix Tour ||1982–89|| 5 years consecutive match win percentage 90% (419/36)|| Stands alone |- |No 1 Ranking ||1985–87||3 consecutive years || Roger Federer
Jimmy Connors
John McEnroe
Pete Sampras |- |No 1 Ranking calender year ||1985|| 52 consecutive weeks || Roger Federer
Jimmy Connors
Lleyton Hewitt
Pete Sampras |- |No 1 Ranking ||1984–85||1st player to reclaim 1 year after losing || Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal |- |}

ITF World Champion (1985–1987, 1990).

ATP Player of The Year (1985–1987).

ATP Most Improved Player (1981).

List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players

Recognition

''Tennis magazine'' named him as one of the ten greatest tennis players since 1966, calling him "the game's greatest overachiever" and emphasizing his importance in the game's history. In his book ''Modern Encyclopedia of Tennis'', Bud Collins included Lendl in his list of the 21 greatest men's tennis players for the period from 1946 through 1992. In July 1986 DPR Korea issued a postage stamp depicting Ivan Lendl in play.

See also

An account of Lendl's dramatic exit from the 1989 French Open

Tennis male players statistics

World number one male tennis player rankings

References

Jiri Janousek, Pavel Vitous (1990). ''Ivan Lendl''. Lidove nakladatelstvi, Praha, Czechoslovakia. ISBN 80-7022-088-0.

Ivan Lendl, George Mendoza (1986). ''Hitting Hot: Ivan Lendl's 14-days Tennis Clinic''. Random House, Inc., New York. ISBN 0-394-55407-8.

External links

Father of Modern Tennis

{{navboxes|title=Ivan Lendl in the Grand Slam Tournaments |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Ivan Lendl Achievements |list1= }}

Category:American male tennis players Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:Czech male tennis players Category:Czechoslovak defectors Category:Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Category:Czechoslovak male tennis players Category:French Open champions Category:French Open junior champions Category:International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Greenwich, Connecticut Category:People from Ostrava Category:Tennis people from Connecticut Category:United States Open champions (tennis) Category:Wimbledon junior champions Category:World No. 1 tennis players Category:1960 births Category:Living people

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Name	Yannick Noah
Country	France
Birth date	May 18, 1960
Birth place	Sedan, France
Height
Weight
Turnedpro	1977
Retired	1996
Plays	Right-handed
Careerprizemoney	US$ 3,440,660
tennishofyear	2005
tennishofid	yannick-noah
Singlesrecord	476–210 (at ATP Tour, Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in the World Group of the Davis Cup)
Singlestitles	23
Highestsinglesranking	3 (7 July 1986)
Australianopenresult	SF (1990)
Frenchopenresult	W (1983)
Wimbledonresult	3R (1979, 1985)
Usopenresult	QF (1983, 1985, 1989)
Doublesrecord	213–109 (at ATP Tour, Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in the World Group of the Davis Cup)
Doublestitles	16
Highestdoublesranking	1 (25 August 1986) }}

Yannick Noah (born 18 May 1960 in Sedan, Ardennes) is a former professional tennis player from France. He is best remembered for being the last French man to win the French Open in 1983, and as a highly-successful captain of France's Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams. Since his retirement from the game, Noah has remained in the public eye as a very popular music performer and as the co-founder, with his mother, of a charity organization for underprivileged children.

Tennis career

Noah turned professional in 1977, and won his first top-level singles title in 1978 in Manila.

Noah became France's most prominent tennis hero in 1983, becoming the first Frenchman in 37 years to win the French Open. He dropped only one set during the two-week long tournament, and defeated the defending-champion Mats Wilander in straight sets in the final 6–2, 7–5, 7–6. Noah also became only the second black male to win a Grand Slam singles event (after Arthur Ashe). He remains the last native to have won the French Open men's singles title.

During his career, which spanned almost two decades, Noah captured a total of 23 singles titles and 16 doubles titles. His highest singles ranking was third in the world, in 1986.

Noah won the French Open men's doubles title in 1984 (with compatriot and best friend Henri Leconte). He was also the men's doubles runner-up at the 1985 U.S. Open (with Leconte), and the 1987 French Open (with compatriot Guy Forget). In August 1986, Noah attained the World No. 1 doubles ranking, which he would hold for a total of 19 weeks.

Noah played on France's Davis Cup team for eleven years, with an overall win–loss record of 39–22 (26–15 in singles, and in 13–7 doubles). In 1982, he was part of the French team which reached the Davis Cup final, where they were defeated 4–1 by the United States.

Nine years later, in 1991, Noah captained the French team which won the Davis Cup for the first time in 59 years, defeating a heavily-favoured US team 3–1 in the final. This feat was repeated in 1996, when France defeated Sweden 3–2 in the final held in Malmö.

In 1997, Noah captained France's Fed Cup team to its first-ever victory in that competition.

He notably admitted using marijuana prior to matches in 1981, saying that amphetamines were the real problem in tennis as they were performance enhancing drugs.

Noah was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005. He remains France's highest ranked player since the introduction of rankings in 1973.

Post-tennis career

Since retiring from playing tennis, Noah has developed a career as a popular singer, performing throughout Europe. He began his music career in 1991 with the album ''Black or What'', featuring the popular track ''Saga Africa'' which he made the stadium sing with his players after the famous Davis Cup final win.

In collaboration with Jean-Jacques Goldman, Noah released a second album in 2000 entitled simply ''Yannick Noah'', and in October 2006, scored major French radio airplay hit with the singles ''Donne-moi une vie'' and ''Aux arbres citoyens'' from a new album entitled ''Charango''.

In 2005, Noah performed at Bob Geldof's Live 8 concert – a fundraiser aimed at alleviating poverty in Africa.

On 21 July 2009, Noah made his U.S. live debut, headlining a concert in front of a packed house at the popular free outdoor performing arts festival in New York City, Central Park SummerStage. The performance was part of France's global music celebration Fête de la Musique.

Noah is very active in charity work. He supports 'Enfants de la Terre', a charity run by his mother, Marie-Claire, and founded 'Fête le Mur' in 1996, a tennis charity for underprivileged children, and was mentioned in association with this charity in the June 2008 French GCSE listening paper in England.

He is also the owner of a restaurant in Saint Barthelemy in the French West Indies called Do Brazil.

Family

Yannick is the son of former school teacher Marie-Claire Échalier-Perrier and Zacharie Noah, a former Cameroonian football star. Zacharie Noah played professionally for Sedan-Torcy (France) in the 1960s and became a hero by leading the side to the French Cup.

From his first marriage to Cécilia Rodhe (Miss Sweden 1978), Yannick has two children, Joakim and Yélena. The 6'11" Joakim played college basketball for the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball National Champions the University of Florida Gators, and was drafted by the Chicago Bulls of the NBA as the 9th overall pick.

From his second marriage to model Heather Stewart-Whyte, Noah has two children named Elijah and Jénayé.

With his current wife, French producer Isabelle Camus, he has a son named Joalukas.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

Singles finals (36)

Wins (23)

Runner-ups (13)

Doubles finals (25)

Wins (16)

Runner-ups (9)

Discography

1990 ''Saga Africa''

1991 ''Black & What'' (including single Saga Africa)

1993 ''Urban Tribu''

1998 ''Zam Zam''

2000 ''Yannick Noah''

2003 ''Pokhara''

2005 ''Métisse''

2006 ''Charango'' (including single Aux arbres citoyens)

2010 ''Frontières''

References

External links

Official Site

International Tennis Hall of Fame

tenniscorner.net profile

Biography as pop musician, from Radio France Internationale

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:French male singers Category:French male tennis players Category:French Open champions Category:French people of Cameroonian descent Category:French tennis coaches Category:People from Sedan, Ardennes Category:International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees

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