Novak Djokovic is redefining greatness with every swing, every title and every act of generosity.
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He doesn’t just win tennis matches, he bends time. At 38 years old, Novak Djokovic is still rewriting the record books. With 24 Grand Slam titles, seven ATP Finals crowns and over 400 weeks as the world’s No.1, it’s no doubt that he is a champion.
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At this point in what has been a phenomenal career, Novak is no longer measured by scorelines and statistics. He is in the middle of a transformation, one that puts family and legacy alongside the relentless pursuit of victory. What matters to him now is balance, between his love of the game and his love of family; between being the greatest of all time and between being, just simply, Novak.
The start of Novak’s tennis career
His story begins in Belgrade (in now Serbia) during the Yugoslavia War, which started in 1991 with the breaking up of the Soviet Union and ethnic conflict in the region. He first picked up a tennis racquet at the age of four, when the war started, and the rest is history (literally). Novak left home as a 12-year-old to join the Pilić Tennis Academy in Oberschleissheim, near Munich in Germany.
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By age 18, he’d entered the top 100 of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and in July 2006 won his first ATP event. In 2003 he turned pro, and by 2008 he had clawed his way to winning his first Gland Slam — the Australian Open.In December 2010 he led the team of his newly formed country, Serbia (which gained independence in 2006), to the country’s first Davis Cup title.
This marked the beginning of a 43-match winning steak, the third-longest in the Open era (since 1968), which in 2011 included his first of seven Wimbledon wins.
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Words: Rughsaar Bibi Ismail
Photography: Gallo/Getty Images, Instagram
