Novak Djokovic (Serbian: Novak Đoković, Новак Ђоковић, pronounced [nôʋaːk d͡ʑôːkoʋit͡ɕ] ( listen); born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player and former world No. 1 who is currently ranked world No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is generally considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Djokovic has won six Grand Slam singles titles and has held the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for a total of 101 weeks. By winning three Grand Slam titles in 2011, Djokovic became the sixth male player to win three Grand Slams in a calendar year. By reaching the 2012 French Open final, he became the ninth player in the Open Era to reach the final of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments and became only the fifth to do so consecutively. Amongst other titles, he won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008, 2012 and 2013 and was on the Serbian team which won the 2010 Davis Cup. He also won the Bronze medal in men's singles at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He has won 19 Masters 1000 series titles, breaking a single-season record with five titles in 2011. This places him third on the list of Masters 1000 winners since its inception in 1990. He holds several men's world records of the Open Era: becoming the youngest player in the Open Era to have reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events both separately and consecutively; the first and only man to win three consecutive Australian Open titles in the Open Era; and playing the longest Grand Slam men's singles final in history (5 hours 53 minutes). Djokovic's ATP tournament records include winning 31 consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series matches, playing in the finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (a record shared by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal), and being the only player to win eight. Djokovic is the first Serbian player to win multiple Grand Slams and the first Serbian player to rank No. 1 for more than 100 weeks. He is the first male player representing Serbia to win a Grand Slam singles title. Djokovic has won numerous awards, including the 2011 Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year and the 2012 Best Male Tennis Player ESPY Award. He has won the ATP World Tour Player of the Year twice consecutively, in 2011 and 2012. He is a recipient of the Order of St. Sava and the Order of the Star of Karađorđe. Djokovic was born on 22 May 1987 in Belgrade, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, to parents Srđan and Dijana (née Žagar). His two younger brothers, Marko and Đorđe, are also tennis players with professional aspirations. Residing in Monte Carlo, Djokovic has been coached by former Slovak tennis player Marián Vajda since 2006. Similar to Roger Federer, Djokovic is a self-described fan of languages, speaking Serbian, English, German, Italian and a little French. He has been dating Jelena Ristić since 2005 and the two became engaged in September 2013. On 24 April 2014, he announced on his Twitter page that he and Jelena are expecting their first child. Djokovic began playing tennis at the age of four. In the summer of 1993, the six-year-old was spotted by Yugoslav tennis player Jelena Genčić at Mount Kopaonik where Djokovic's parents ran a fast-food parlour. Upon seeing Djokovic play tennis, she stated: "This is the greatest talent I have seen since Monika Seleš." 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 the age of 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 Moyá, where he entertained the audience with impersonations of Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. His impersonations have also become very popular on video sharing website YouTube. Djokovic also did an impression of John McEnroe after his fourth round match victory at the 2009 US Open, before playing a brief game with McEnroe, much to the delight of the audience. 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.

• published: 08 Jun 2014
• views: 736