Novak Djokovic
is one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
For many, he is the best.
Owner of 22 Grand Slam titles -the last one was won on Sunday in
Australia
to be together with
Rafael Nadal
as the top winners in that category- and current number one in the world, a position in which he has accumulated 374 weeks, more than any other player. The Serbian has been at the Olympus of the racket world for many seasons.
But he does not forget his origins and the adversities he went through during his childhood, marked by the wars in the former Yugoslavia, which he recalled on Sunday, after his victory over
Stefanos Tsitsipas
in the final of Melbourne.
"I come from Serbia in the 1990s, where we lived through two wars and an embargo for six years. At that time, I think that for four years no Serbian athlete was allowed to leave the country to participate in international competitions,"
Nole
said in a interview for
Sony Sports Network
with his former colleague and now TV presenter,
Somdev Devvarman
.
"I grew up in that context. I stood in line every morning, at 5 in the morning, to receive some milk and bread, together with hundreds of people and my grandfather, to put the bread on the table and that five or six members of the family could eat that day," he said.
And he closed: "I know how it feels to be in that situation and I am grateful for everything I have, everything I received from life and from God. And I am aware that there are hundreds of people in the world much less fortunate than me. "
That's why through my foundation, from my tennis center in Serbia, I try to help in any way I can
. I know it's not enough, I could do more, but I do my best."
It is not the first time that the Serb talks about his childhood.
During his time at
Wimbledon
in 2021, when he won his 20th "big one", he assured: "Failure was not an option for me or for anyone in my family. We had to find a way to survive during those moments. It was difficult. Those things they harden your personality, they make you stronger and you have more hunger for success in what you do".
"We practically lived in the basement of my grandfather's house, together with my parents, my uncles and my brothers. We woke up every night at 2 or 3 in the morning for two and a half months because of the attacks," he said in another moment, recalling what he lived through during the NATO bombing of Belgrade between March and June 1999. "In a way, those experiences made me a champion."
"I am grateful for everything I have, everything I received from life and from God," Djokovic said.
Photo REUTERS/Carl Recine
Bogdan Obradovic
, his first coach, recalled a few years ago: "We were in a terrible situation during the bombings. You heard the noise, you saw it on the news, people were killed and everything was destroyed. I was with Novak a lot in that time. We would tour Belgrade looking for courts and we trained together. At that time, people already knew him, he was popular, so they helped him a lot. We trained in many different clubs. There was a lot of improvisation, but that's how we did it."
He added: "In the first training we did, I was in shock. He was completely prepared. He had warmed up, he had his water bottle, a banana, a towel, everything. I had never seen that in a boy so young. He was focused but he was He was having a lot of fun at the time. He was laughing a lot."
Already in those years, little
Nole
had to want to be the best.
At the age of seven, in an interview with television in his country, he boldly warned:
"Tennis for me is a duty. My goal is to become number 1."
That hard period of his life became the engine that drives his ambition to win and the reason for his iron mentality, his dedication and his fighting spirit.
And despite the obstacles, Djokovic found a way to hone that natural talent that made him different from the other boys.
And he became a huge champion.
A living tennis legend.
One of the best players in history.
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