He has won one Grand Slam singles title, the 2008 Australian Open, becoming the first player representing Serbia to win a Grand Slam singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events. In addition to being one of the few that defeated Roger Federer in a Grand Slam, he is one of only two players to do so consecutively the other being Nadal He was also the runner-up at the 2007 and 2010 US Open tournaments, and a bronze medalist representing Serbia at the 2008 Olympic Games. He is currently in the final of the 2011 Australian Open. In addition, Djokovic won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008 and has won six Masters Series tournaments. In 2010, he led Serbia to win the Davis Cup. Djokovic has finished the ATP Tour as World No. 3 for four consecutive years in a row between 2007 and 2010. Djokovic's highest ranking to date is World No. 2, achieved in February 2010.
He is a double winner of the award The Best Sportperson of Serbia and award for The Best Sportsman by Olympic Committee of Serbia. He is considered to be the best Serbian tennis player in history, and one of the best to have ever come from the former Yugoslavia.
Contents
* 1 Biography
* 2 Tennis career
o 2.1 Early career
o 2.2 2006
o 2.3 2007
o 2.4 2008
o 2.5 2009
o 2.6 2010
o 2.7 2011
o 2.8 Davis Cup
* 3 Playing style and equipment
* 4 Djokovic–Nadal rivalry
* 5 Djokovic–Federer rivalry
* 6 Grand Slams
o 6.1 Grand Slam performance timeline
o 6.2 Grand Slam Finals
+ 6.2.1 Singles: 4 1 title, 2 runner-ups
* 7 Career Statistics
* 8 In popular culture
* 9 See also
* 10 References
* 11 External links
Biography
Novak "Nole" Djokovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia on 22 May 1987 to parents, Srdjan and Dijana Djoković. His two younger brothers, Đorđe and Marko, are also tennis players with professional aspirations. He has been in a relationship with fellow Serb and Belgrade native, Jelena Ristic for the past five years
He started playing tennis at the age of four, and was spotted by Yugoslav tennis legend Jelena Genčić at the age of eight, who stated: "This is the greatest talent I have seen since Monica Seles At 12 years old, he spent three months at Nikola Pilić's tennis academy in Munich, Germany, and at age 14, his international career began, winning European championships in singles, doubles, and team competition.He currently resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco and has been coached by a former Slovak tennis player, Marián Vajda; in August 2009 he also began working with former US top-five player Todd Martin.
Djoković is also 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 SharapovaHe also did an impression of American tennis great 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.
Tennis career
Early career
In the beginning of his professional career, Djoković 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 faced Filippo Volandri in the Round of 32, and made his first grand slam appearance by qualifying for the 2005 Australian open where he met Marat Safin, as his first round opponent which he lost went on to win the tournament.
2006
The possibility for their entire 5-person family to move from Serbia to live in Britain involved immense dedicationAll the rumours did not affect Djoković's play. He soon reached the top 40 world ranking due to a quarterfinal appearance at the French Open, and a fourth round appearance at Wimbledon.
Three weeks after Wimbledon, he won his maiden title at the Dutch Open in Amersfoort without losing a set, defeating Nicolás Massú in the final. Djoković 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
Djoković began the year by winning the tournament in Adelaide, defeating Australian Chris Guccione in the final, 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 ten. 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.
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 quarter-finals 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 Grand Slam semifinal, losing to eventual champion Nadal.
During Wimbledon, Djokovic won a five-hour quarterfinal against Marcos Baghdatis semifinal match against Nadal, he was forced to retire with back and foot problems.
Djokovic at 2007 US Open
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 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 199 citation needed Djokovic was also only the second player, after Tomáš Berdych, to have defeated both Federer and Nadal since they became the top two players players in the world. After this tournament, Björn Borg stated that Djokovic "is definitely a contender to win a Grand Slam tournament , 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 , 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 Olympic Committee of Serbia has declared for the best sportsman.
Djokovic at the Rod Laver Arena during the 2008 Australian Open
Djokovic started the year by playing the Hopman Cup along with fellow Serbian World No. 3 Jelena Janković. He won all his round-robin matches and the team, seeded first, reached the final. They lost the second-seeded American team consisting of Serena Williams and Mardy Fish.
At the Australian Open, Djokovic reached the final without dropping a set, including a victory over two-time defending champion Roger Federer in the semifinals, to reach his second Grand Slam final in a row; by reaching the semifinals, Djokovic became the youngest player to have reached the semifinals in all four grand slams. In the final, Djokovic then defeated unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to earn Serbia's and his first ever Grand Slam singles title in four sets, 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 result was at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, lost in the semi-finals to Andy Roddick.
Djokovic at the 2008 Pacific Life Open
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 semi-finals. At the French Open in Paris, 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, . 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 grand slams where he had reached at least the semifinals.
Winning the Masters Cup
Djokovic then failed to defend his 2007 singles title at the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Toronto. He was eliminated in the quarter-finals by eighth-seeded Andy Murray following week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Djokovic advanced to the final. In the final, he again lost to Murray in straight sets.
His next tournament was the Beijing Olympics, his first Summer 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, then defeated James Blake, the loser of the other semi-final, in the bronze medal match
After the Olympics, Djokovic entered the US Open as the third seed. Djokovic took several injury breaks during matches in the tournament prompting a quip from Andy Roddick that the serb has "16 injuries" including SARS, bird flu, and the common cold. He defeated Roddick in the quarterfinals, and in the post-match interview expressed disapproval with Roddick's comments, eliciting boos from the New York crowd. His run at the US Open ended in the semifinals when he lost to Federer 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 due to Nadal being unable to participate. 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 Djokovic qualified for the semi-finals, where he defeated Gilles Simon the final, Djokovic defeated Davydenko again to win his first ever Tennis Masters Cup title.
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 semi-finals. Djokovic would have risen to World No. 2 had he won the match.
As defending champion at the Australian Open, Djokovic retired from his quarterfinal match with former World No. 1 Andy Roddick while he was trailing in the fourth set , due to heat exhaustion, muscle cramps, and soreness His retirement drew criticism from several players remaining in the tournament, including Roger Federer, who noted that Djokovic had now retired from matches in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
After losing in the semi-finals 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 quarter-. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, Djokovic beat Federer in the semi-finals before losing to Andy Murray in the final.
Djokovic during the 2009 US OpenDjokovic 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 after defeating Federer. This loss caused Djokovic's ranking to drop to World No. 4 on May 11, ending 81 consecutive weeks at the number 3 ranking
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 semi-finals without dropping a set. There he faced Nadal for the third time in five weeks and, despite holding three match points, lost match, at 4 hours and 2 minutes, was the longest three-set singles match on the ATP World Tour in the Open Era. 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. also lost to Haas in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon
During the U.S. Open Series, Djokovic made the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal before losing to Andy Roddick loss was his third of the year to Roddick. At the Western & Southern reach his second consecutive final at the event. He lost in the final to World No. 1 Roger
At the 2009 US Open, Djokovic made the semi-finals having dropping only two sets, defeating the likes of Ivan Ljubičić, 15th seed Radek Štěpánek and 10th seed Fernando Verdasco en route. He lost however to Roger Federer in the semis in a hard fought encounter,
Djokovic then took part 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, 6–2, 7–6 to win his third title of the year.[19] Djokovic regained the World No. 3 ranking on October 19, as a result of his performance at this tournament, and Andy Murray's withdrawal from the 2009 Shanghai Masters. At the inaugural Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, Djokovic lost in the semi-finals to sixth seed and eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko 6–4, just over 3 hours.
At the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, Djokovic recorded his first career double bagel, defeating Jan Hernych , to make it to the quarter- then recovered from a set and break deficit to defeat Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarter-. In the semi-finals, he saved three match points to defeat Radek the final, he defeated home favourite and three-time defending champion Roger Federer to win his fourth title of the year. With this win, Djokovic remained a perfect 15-0 at ATP World 500 tournaments in 2009.
At the last Masters 1000 event of the year at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, Djokovic finally won his first Masters 1000 title of the year. He defeated Rafael in the semi-finals in 77 minutes hitting 31 winners en the final, Djokovic held off several comebacks in the match from Gaël Monfils, eventually prevailing,
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, extending his winning streak to 11 matches. run was ended however in his second match, where a weary looking Djokovic lost to the first time in 6 career meetings to Robin Söderling victory over Rafael Nadal 6–3, in his final match, Djokovic failed to make the semi-finals due to his percentage of sets won being inferior to that of Davydenko in a three way tie between Söderling, Davydenko and Djokovic all three having finished the round robin stage with a 2–1 win-loss record
Djokovic ended the year as the World No. 3 for the third consecutive year. Djokovic played 97 matches through out 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.
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