Novak Djokovic
Encyclopedia
Novak Djokovic is a Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

n professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...

 (ATP) since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...

 singles titles: the 2008
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...

 and 2011 Australian Open
2011 Australian Open
The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players were held...

, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships
2011 Wimbledon Championships
The 2011 Wimbledon Championships took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England, from 20 June to 3 July 2011. It was the 125th edition of the championships, and the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. It was played on grass courts and was part of the...

, and the 2011 US Open
2011 US Open (tennis)
The 2011 US Open was a tennis tournament played on the outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, of Queens, New York City, United States...

. By winning three Majors in 2011, Djokovic became the sixth player in the open era to win three Majors in a calendar year. He is the first 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
2008 Tennis Masters Cup
The 2008 Tennis Masters Cup was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 39th edition of the year-end singles championships, the 34th edition of the year-end doubles championships, and part of the 2008 ATP Tour...

 in 2008 and was also on the team which won the 2010 Davis Cup
2010 Davis Cup
The 2010 Davis Cup was the 99th edition of the most important annual tournament among national teams in men's tennis worldwide...

.
He is considered the best male tennis player to come out of the former Yugoslavia and the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

. Djokovic is also a double winner of The Best Sportsperson of Serbia award and the award for The Best Sportsman by the Olympic Committee of Serbia
Olympic Committee of Serbia
Olympic Committee of Serbia is the National Olympic Committee representing Serbia. It organizes the country's representatives at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games as well as at smaller events such as the Mediterranean Games.-History :...

. He has been awarded the Order of St. Sava
Order of St. Sava
The Order of St. Sava was a decoration instituted by the order King Milan I of Serbia in 1883. The Order of Saint Sava originally was established to recognize civilians for meritorious achievements in the arts and sciences. In 1914 a change was made permitting military personnel to receive the...

, the highest decoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...

. Djokovic is a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia. He is the only player to defeat Nadal in two consecutive Grand Slam finals (2011 Wimbledon and 2011 US Open).

Biography

Novak was born 22 May 1987, in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

, to father Srđan (Срђан) and mother Dijana (Дијана). His two younger brothers, Marko and Đorđe (Ђорђе), are also tennis players with professional aspirations. Since the end of 2005, Novak has dated 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
Jelena Genčić
Jelena Genčić is a Serbian retired tennis and handball player...

 at Mount Kopaonik
Kopaonik
Kopaonik ; is one of the larger mountain ranges of Serbia. It is located in the central part of Serbia, while a small portion extendeds to North Kosovo. Its highest point, Pančić's Peak, is above sea level....

 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
Monica Seles
Monica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...

." 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
Nikola Pilic
Nikola "Niki" Pilić is a retired Croatian professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia. He was one of the Handsome Eight.-Biography:...

, and in September 1999, the 12-year-old moved to the Pilić tennis academy in Oberschleißheim
Oberschleißheim
Oberschleißheim is a municipality in the district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located 13 km north of Munich . As of 2005 it had a population of 11,467....

, Germany, spending four years there. At age 14, he began his international career, winning European championships in singles, doubles, and team competition.

He resides in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....

, Monaco and has been coached since 2006 by a former Slovak
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

 tennis player, Marián Vajda
Marián Vajda
Marián Vajda is a former Slovak tennis player.Vajda was a member of the Olympic Team of Czechoslovakia where in 1992 he competed in the Olympic Games of Barcelona, being easily eliminated in the first round against Israel by 7–6, 6–1, 6–0.Vajda is a former captain of the Slovakia Davis Cup and Fed...

.

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
Carlos Moyá
Carlos Moya Llompart is a retired former world no. 1 tennis player from Spain. He was the French Open singles champion in 1998 and was the singles runner-up at the 1997 Australian Open. In 2004, he helped his country win the Davis Cup. He currently resides in Switzerland...

, where he entertained the audience with impersonations of Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

 and Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,. is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open...

. He also did an impression of American tennis great John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...

 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
Peace and Sport
Peace and Sport, "L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport” is a neutral and apolitical international initiative based in the Principality of Monaco and placed under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco....

, a Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...

-based international organization.

Similar to fellow pro Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

, Djokovic is a self-described fan of languages, speaking four himself: his native Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

.

Early career

As a member of the FR Yugoslavia national team, he reached the finals of the 2001 Junior Davis Cup
Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup
Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup is the international team event in junior tennis.The senior's equivalent of the Junior Davis and Fed Cup is the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.- Junior Davis Cup :*1985: Australia*1986: Australia*1987: Australia...

 for players under 14, in which he lost his match in singles.

In the beginning of his professional career, Djokovic mainly played in Futures and Challenger
ATP Challenger Series
The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments...

 tournaments, winning three of each type from 2003 to 2005. His first tour-level tournament was Umag in 2004, where he faced Filippo Volandri
Filippo Volandri
Filippo Volandri is an Italian professional male tennis player. Volandri is a right-handed player who reached a career-high ranking of 25 on July 23, 2007. He turned pro in 1997, and as of January 2006, had earned over $1,300,000 in prize money...

 in the round of 32, and lost, 6–7, 1–6. He made his first Grand Slam tournament appearance by qualifying for the 2005 Australian Open, where he met Marat Safin
Marat Safin
Marat Mikhailovich Safin is a retired Russian tennis player of Tatar descent. Safin won two grand slams and reached the world number 1 ranking during his career. He was also famous for his emotional outbursts and sometimes fiery temper on court. Safin also holds the record for most broken...

, as his first round opponent and lost, 6–0, 6–2, 6–1. Safin went on to win the tournament.

2006

The decision for their entire five-person family to move from Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

 to live in Britain involved immense dedication. All the rumours did not affect Djokovic's play. He soon reached the top 40 world ranking due to a quarterfinal appearance at the French Open
2006 French Open
The 2006 French Open was held in Paris, France from May 28 to June 11, 2006. Both defending champions, Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin-Hardenne, retained their titles. It is one of the four tennis Grand Slams. This edition made history as it became the first Grand Slam tournament to start on a...

, and reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon
2006 Wimbledon Championships
The 2006 Wimbledon Championships began on 26 June and finished on 9 July 2006.-Gentlemen's singles: Roger Federer defeated Rafael Nadal 6-0 7-6 6-7 6-3-Ladies' singles: Amélie Mauresmo defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne 2-6 6-3 6-4...

.

Three weeks after Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...

, he won his maiden title at the Dutch Open in Amersfoort
Amersfoort
Amersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands. The city is growing quickly but has a well-preserved and protected medieval centre. Amersfoort is one of the largest railway junctions in the country, because of its location on two of the...

 without losing a set, defeating Nicolás Massú
Nicolás Massú
Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried , nicknamed Vampiro , is a Chilean tennis player, a former world number nine in singles, and a two-time Olympic gold medalist...

 in the final. Djokovic won his second career title at the Open de Moselle
Open de Moselle
The Open de Moselle is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It has been held annually since 2003. The venue for the tournament was the Arènes until 2010 and is now the Parc des Expositions since 2011...

 in Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

, and moved into the top 20 for the first time in his career.

2007

Djokovic began the year by winning the tournament in Adelaide, defeating Australian Chris Guccione
Chris Guccione
Christopher "Chris" Luke Guccione , is an Australian professional tennis player from Greenvale, Victoria; his father is Italian and his mother is Australian....

 in the final, before losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open
2007 Australian Open
The 2007 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 15 January until 28 January 2007.The total prize pool was set at exactly A$20 million, with the winners of both the men's and women's singles competition each receiving A$1,281,000. Over 500 players...

 to eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets. His performances at the Masters Series
ATP Masters Series
The ATP Masters Series was a series of nine tennis tournaments that formed part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America...

 events in Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells Masters
The Indian Wells Masters is an annual tennis tournament held 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
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

, but defeated Nadal in Key Biscayne in the quarterfinals before defeating Guillermo Cañas
Guillermo Cañas
Guillermo Ignacio Cañas , often referred to as Willy Cañas, is a retired Argentine professional tennis player. He was born in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, and named after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas. His highest singles ranking was 8th . After retirement Cañas took on coaching, he...

 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
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...

 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
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...

 in the third round, and in the Estoril Open
Estoril Open
The Estoril Open is an ATP and WTA clay court tournament held in Jamor, Oeiras, Portugal . The men's tournament was created in 1990 and since its inception, every champion except 2004 champion Juan Ignacio Chela and 2009–2010 champion Albert Montañés has been in the Top 10 of the ATP rankings,...

, where he defeated Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...

 in the final. Djokovic then reached the quarterfinals of both the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome and the Masters Series Hamburg
Hamburg Masters
The German Open Hamburg, established in 1892, is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Originally a Grand Prix Tennis Tour event between 1978 and 1989 it was part of the Grand Prix Championship...

, but lost to Nadal and Carlos Moyà
Carlos Moyá
Carlos Moya Llompart is a retired former world no. 1 tennis player from Spain. He was the French Open singles champion in 1998 and was the singles runner-up at the 1997 Australian Open. In 2004, he helped his country win the Davis Cup. He currently resides in Switzerland...

 respectively. At the French Open, Djokovic reached his first Major semifinal, losing to eventual champion Nadal.

During Wimbledon
2007 Wimbledon Championships
The 2007 Wimbledon Championships were held between 25 June and 8 July 2007. For the first time there was equal prize money for the men's and women's singles champions. Reconstruction work on Centre Court was in progress and thus it had no roof....

, Djokovic won a five-hour quarterfinal against Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis
At the French Open, Baghdatis lost in the second round in five sets to Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 4-6.At Wimbledon, Baghdatis defeated British player Andy Murray in the fourth round in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Baghdatis beat the 2002 champion and former world no. 1...

, 7–6(4) 7–6(9) 6–7(3) 4–6 7–5 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
2007 Canada Masters
The 2007 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 118th edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2007 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2007 WTA Tour...

 in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. He defeated world no. 8Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

 in the quarterfinals, world no. 18 Gasquet 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
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...

 in 1994. Djokovic was also only the second player, after Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...

, to have defeated both Federer and Nadal since they became the top two players in the world. After this tournament, Björn Borg
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...

 stated that Djokovic "is definitely a contender to win a Grand Slam (tournament)." However, the following week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open is an annual outdoor hardcourts tennis event held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio, USA. The event started on September 18, 1899 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city., Between...

 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
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

, Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

, and Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,. is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open...

.

Djokovic won his fifth title of the year at the BA-CA TennisTrophy
BA-CA TennisTrophy
The Erste Bank Open is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. Originally an event of the Grand Prix tennis circuit . It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour...

 in Vienna, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. He also holds German citizenship as his father is German. His career ranking high is no. 9, achieved on 9 June 2008. He considers clay his best surface and his backhand his best shot...

 in the final. His next tournament was the Mutua Madrileña Masters
Madrid Masters
There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters...

 in Madrid, where he lost to David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...

 in the semifinals, 4–6, 6–7. Djokovic, assured of finishing the year as world no. 3, qualified for the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup
2007 Tennis Masters Cup
The 2007 Tennis Masters Cup was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the year-end singles championships, the 33rd edition of the year-end doubles championships, and was part of the 2007 ATP Tour...

, 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
Olympic Committee of Serbia
Olympic Committee of Serbia is the National Olympic Committee representing Serbia. It organizes the country's representatives at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games as well as at smaller events such as the Mediterranean Games.-History :...

 declared him the best athlete.

2008

Djokovic started the year by playing the Hopman Cup
Hopman Cup
The Hopman Cup is an annual international team tennis tournament held in Perth, Western Australia in early January each year, which plays mixed teams on a country by country basis...

, along with fellow Serbian world no. 3 Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...

. He won all his round-robin matches, and the team, seeded first, reached the final. They lost 1–2 to the second-seeded American team consisting of Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...

 and Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...

.

At the Australian Open
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...

, Djokovic reached the final without dropping a set, including a victory over two-time defending champion Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

 in the semifinals, to reach his second Major final in a row; by reaching the semifinals, Djokovic became the youngest player to have reached the semifinals in all four Majors. In the final, Djokovic then defeated unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to earn his and Serbia's first ever Grand Slam singles title in four sets, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6. 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
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

.

At the Masters Series
ATP Masters Series
The ATP Masters Series was a series of nine tennis tournaments that formed part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America...

 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....

, California, Djokovic won his ninth career singles title, defeating American Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...

 in the three-set final.

Djokovic won his tenth career singles title and fourth Master Series singles crown at the Internazionali d'Italia
2008 Rome Masters
The 2008 Rome Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 65th edition of the Rome Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2008 WTA Tour...

 in Rome
Foro Italico
Foro Italico is a sports complex in Rome, Italy. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, later, Luigi Moretti...

. The following week at the Hamburg Masters
2008 Hamburg Masters
The 2008 Masters Series Hamburg was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 101st edition of the Masters Series Hamburg, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at the Rothenbaum Tennis Center in Hamburg, Germany, from May 10 through May 18,...

, 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
Grass court
A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Grass courts are made of rye grass in different compositions depending on the tournament...

, Djokovic once again played Nadal, this time in the Artois Championships
Queen's Club Championships
The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. Between 1970 and 1989 it was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit. The event is now an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of...

 final in Queen's Club
Queen's Club
The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. Founded in 1886, the Queen's Club was the world's first multipurpose sports complex and named after Queen Victoria, its first patron...

, London, losing 6–7, 5–7. At Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...

, 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
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. He was eliminated in the quarterfinals by eighth-seeded Andy Murray, 3–6, 6–7. The following week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open is an annual outdoor hardcourts tennis event held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio, USA. The event started on September 18, 1899 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city., Between...

 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
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

, his first Olympics. He and Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjic
Nenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.-Career:...

, seeded second in men's doubles, were eliminated in the first round by the Czech pairing of Martin Damm
Martin Damm
Martin Damm was a professional tennis player from Czechia. He is 6'2" 195 lb and is best known as a doubles player . ,his highest singles ranking 42 as of August 1997...

 and Pavel Vízner
Pavel Vízner
Pavel Vízner is a professional male tennis player from the Czech Republic. Vízner has reached the French Open final twice, having had turned professional in 1990 and achieved a career high doubles ranking of World Number 5 on September 10, 2007.- Career :While Vízner had played tournaments in 1988...

. Seeded third in singles, Djokovic lost in the semifinals to Nadal, 4–6, 6–1, 4–6. Djokovic then defeated James Blake
James Blake
James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...

, the loser of the other semifinal, in the bronze medal match, 6–3, 7–6.

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
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

 that the Serb has "16 injuries" including SARS, bird flu
H5N1
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as "bird flu", A or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species...

, and the common cold
Common cold
The common cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system, caused primarily by rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. Common symptoms include a cough, sore throat, runny nose, and fever...

. He defeated Roddick in the quarterfinals, and in the post-match interview expressed disapproval of 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, 3–6, 7–5, 5–7, 2–6, 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
Thailand Open (tennis)
The Thailand Open is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour...

 to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. In November, Djokovic was the second seed at the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup
Tennis Masters Cup
The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is a tennis tournament played at the end of each year, involving the top eight players in the men's tennis world rankings....

 in Shanghai because Nadal was unable to participate. In his first round-robin match, he defeated Argentine Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...

 in straight sets. He then beat Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

 in three sets, before losing his final round robin match against Tsonga 6–1, 5–7, 1–6. Djokovic qualified for the semifinals, where he defeated Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour...

, 4–6, 6–3, 7–5. In the final, Djokovic defeated Davydenko again to win his first ever Tennis Masters Cup title.

2009

Djokovic started the year at the Brisbane International
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour and of the WTA Premier tournaments of the Women's Tennis Association Tour...

 in Brisbane, Australia, where he was upset by Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis is a Latvian professional tennis player. In 2008, Gulbis won his first ATP Tour doubles title at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, teaming with Rainer Schüttler, and in 2010 won his first ATP Tour singles title in the Delray Beach, defeating Ivo Karlović in the final...

 in the first round. At the Medibank International in Sydney, he lost to Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen is a professional tennis player from Finland.His highest ranking is 13th, which was achieved on July 10, 2006. He has won one ATP singles title and two doubles titles in his career so far. His best performances in Grand Slam tournaments have been reaching the quarter-finals...

 in the semifinals. Djokovic would have risen to world no. 2 had he won the match.

As defending champion at the Australian Open
2009 Australian Open
The 2009 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 97th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 January through 1 February 2009. The 2009 men's...

, Djokovic retired from his quarterfinal match with former world no. 1 Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

 while he was trailing in the fourth set 7–6, 4–6, 2–6, 1–2, due to heat exhaustion, muscle cramps, and soreness. His retirement drew criticism from several players remaining in the tournament, including Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

.

After losing in the semifinals of the Open 13
Open 13
The Open 13 is an annual men's tennis tournament played in Marseille, France. The tournament is an ATP World Tour 250 series event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. It is held for one week in February...

 tournament in Marseille to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Djokovic won the singles title at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...

 to claim his twelfth career title. The following week, Djokovic was the defending champion at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....

, California, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...

 event, but lost to Roddick in the quarterfinals 3–6, 2–6. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne
Key Biscayne, Florida
Key Biscayne is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States on the island of Key Biscayne. The population was 10,507 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,324....

, Florida, another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, Djokovic beat Federer in the semifinals, 3–6, 6–2, 6–3 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
2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
The 2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, a tennis tournament for male professional players, was played from April 11 through April 19, 2009, on outdoor clay courts. It was the 103rd edition of the annual Monte Carlo Masters tournament, which was sponsored by Rolex for the first time and was classified...

 on clay, losing to Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

 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 11 May, ending 91 consecutive weeks at the number 3 ranking.

Djokovic was the top seed at his hometown tournament, the Serbia Open
Serbia Open
The Serbia Open is an ATP World Tour 250 series men's tennis tournament held in Belgrade, Serbia. It is currently played on outdoor clay courts. The event was held for the first time in 2009, from May 4–10...

 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
2009 Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open
The 2009 Madrid Masters is a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It is the 8th edition of the event on the ATP and 1st on the WTA. It is classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2009 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the 2009 WTA Tour...

, Djokovic advanced to the semifinals without dropping a set. There, he faced Nadal for the third time in five weeks and, despite holding three match points, lost 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(11–9). 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
2009 French Open
The 2009 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 108th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year...

, he lost in the third round to German Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...

 4–6, 4–6, 4–6.

Djokovic began his grass court season at the Gerry Weber Open
2009 Gerry Weber Open
The 2009 Gerry Weber Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 17th edition of the event known that year as the Gerry Weber Open, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2009 ATP World Tour...

 where, after the withdrawal of Federer, he competed as the top seed. He advanced to the final, where he lost to German Tommy Haas
Tommy Haas
Tommy Haas is a German and recently naturalized American professional tennis player. He has competed on the ATP Tour since 1996. After breaking into the world top 100 in 1997, and reaching a career-high ranking of world no...

. Djokovic also lost to Haas in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...

 5–7, 6–7, 6–4, 3–6.

During the US Open Series
2009 US Open Series
The sixth edition of the US Open Series , included ten hard court tournaments started on July 20 in Indianapolis and endend in New Haven, Connecticut on August 29. This edition has scheduled five separate men's tournaments, four women's tournaments, and the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament hosted both a...

, Djokovic made the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup
2009 Rogers Cup
The 2009 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 120th edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2009 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier 5 of the 2009 WTA Tour...

 in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, before losing to Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

 4–6, 6–7. The loss was his third of the year to Roddick. At the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Djokovic defeated world no. 3 Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

 in the semifinals, 6–1, 6–4, to reach his second consecutive final at the event. He lost in the final to world no. 1 Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

 1–6, 5–7.

At the 2009 US Open, Djokovic made the semifinals, having dropped only two sets, defeating the likes of Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....

, 15th seed Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štepánek
Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...

 and 10th seed Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...

 en route. He also won back the support of many from the American crowd (who had turned against him following his comments about Roddick in the 2008 US Open) with his off-court antics, including a lighthearted exhibition against John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...

 after his victory over Stepanek. He lost, however, to Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

 in the semifinals in a hard-fought encounter, 6–7, 5–7, 5–7.

Djokovic then took part at the China Open in Beijing. He defeated Victor Hănescu
Victor Hanescu
Victor Hănescu is a Romanian tennis player. He achieved his career high rank of no. 26 on July 6, 2009.- Professional career :...

, Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has Serb and Russian ethnic roots. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Tver and Rostov-on-Don to Serbia in 1917. His career-high ranking is no. 12, achieved on 6 June 2011. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup,...

, Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...

, and Robin Söderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...

 en route to the final, where he defeated Marin Čilić
Marin Cilic
Marin Čilić , is a Croatian professional tennis player. His career high ATP ranking is no. 9, achieved on 22 February 2010, following his best-ever performance at a Grand Slam, reaching the semi-finals in the 2010 Australian Open...

 in straight sets, 6–2, 7–6 to win his third title of the year. Djokovic regained the world no. 3 ranking on 19 October, 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
2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000
The 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 1st edition of the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2009 ATP World Tour...

, Djokovic lost in the semifinals to sixth seed and eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

, 6–4, 4–6, 6–7 in just over 3 hours.

At the Davidoff Swiss Indoors
2009 Davidoff Swiss Indoors
The 2009 Davidoff Swiss Indoors was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 40th edition of the event known that year as the Davidoff Swiss Indoors, and was part of the 500 Series of the 2009 ATP World Tour. It was held at the St...

 in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

, Djokovic recorded his first career double bagel, defeating Jan Hernych
Jan Hernych
Jan Mauda Hernych is a professional male tennis player from Czech Republic. Born in Prague, he turned pro in 1998 and achieved his highest ranking of World No. 59 on 27 April 2009. He is currently 241st in the ATP rankings.-External links:...

, 6–0, 6–0, to make it to the quarterfinals. He then recovered from a set and break deficit to defeat Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. He also holds German citizenship as his father is German. His career ranking high is no. 9, achieved on 9 June 2008. He considers clay his best surface and his backhand his best shot...

 in the quarterfinals, 3–6, 7–6, 6–2. In the semifinals, he saved three match points to defeat Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štepánek
Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...

, 6–7, 7–5, 6–2. In the final, he defeated home favourite and three-time defending champion Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2, 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
2009 BNP Paribas Masters
The 2009 Paris Masters was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 35th edition of the Paris Masters, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2009 ATP Tour...

 in Paris, Djokovic finally won his first Masters 1000 title of the year. He defeated Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

, 6–2, 6–3, in the semifinals in 77 minutes, hitting 31 winners in the match. In the final, Djokovic held off several comebacks in the match from Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...

, eventually prevailing, 6–2, 5–7, 7–6.

Coming into the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals
2009 ATP World Tour Finals
The 2009 ATP World Tour Finals was held in London, United Kingdom between November 22 and November 29, 2009...

 in London as the defending champion, Djokovic defeated Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

 in his first round-robin match, 3–6, 6–4, 7–5, extending his winning streak to 11 matches. His run was ended however in his second match, where a weary-looking Djokovic lost to the first time in six career meetings to Robin Söderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...

, 6–7, 1–6. Despite victory over Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

, 7–6, 6–3, in his final match, Djokovic failed to make the semifinals 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 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
Tommy Haas
Tommy Haas is a German and recently naturalized American professional tennis player. He has competed on the ATP Tour since 1996. After breaking into the world top 100 in 1997, and reaching a career-high ranking of world no...

, but lost to Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...

 in his second. Djokovic participated in an exhibition match against Australia's world no. 291 Bernard Tomic
Bernard Tomic
Bernard Tomic is an Australian professional tennis player. As of 24 October 2011, Tomic is ranked the World No. 41, making him the highest ranked Australian male tennis player and the youngest player in the top 100...

, which he lost.

At the Australian Open
2010 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but retired due to a right knee injury trailing 3–6, 6–7, 0–3 in the quarterfinals against Andy Murray.Roger Federer met Andy Murray in the final of this event...

, Djokovic was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets, 6–7, 7–6, 6–1, 3–6, 1–6, struggling with illness both before the match and from the fourth set onwards. Despite the loss, Djokovic attained a career-high ranking of world no. 2.
He reached the semifinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
2010 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
The 2010 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the event known as the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, and was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...

 in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

, losing to Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....

, 6–7, 6–7, despite having set points in the second-set tiebreak. At the Dubai Tennis Championships
2010 Dubai Tennis Championships
The 2010 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships was a 500 Series event on the 2010 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2010 WTA Tour. Both of the events took place at The Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates...

 in the U.A.E., Djokovic reached his second consecutive final at this event after beating all his opponents in three sets from the first round onwards. In the final, he defeated Russian Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....

 winning, 7–5, 5–7, 6–3, to win his first title of the year. This was the first time in his career that Djokovic had defended a title.

He then took part in Serbia
Serbia Davis Cup team
The Serbian Davis Cup team represents Serbia in the Davis Cup tennis competition. The team started playing in 2007, following the split of Serbia and Montenegro.Serbia is the current winner of the Davis Cup....

's Davis Cup
2010 Davis Cup
The 2010 Davis Cup was the 99th edition of the most important annual tournament among national teams in men's tennis worldwide...

 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
Sam Querrey
Sam Austin Querrey is a professional American tennis player from Thousand Oaks, California currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of August 2010, he is the fourth-highest ranked American. His career high rank was #17, achieved on January 31, 2011. His height allows him to play with a strong...

 in four sets, and John Isner
John Isner
John Robert Isner is an American professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high rank of no. 18 on July 5, 2010, and has been as high as the second-ranked American tennis player behind Andy Roddick...

 in five sets.

Djokovic then took part in the first Masters 1000 events of the year in North America. At the BNP Paribas Open
2010 BNP Paribas Open
The 2010 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2010. It was the 36th edition of the event, known this year as the BNP Paribas Open, and is classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2010 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on...

 in Indian Wells
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....

, he lost in the fourth round to the eventual champion Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....

, 5–7, 3–6. At the Sony Ericsson Open
2010 Sony Ericsson Open
The 2010 Sony Ericsson Open , was a tennis tournament for men and women held from March 22 to April 4, 2010. It was the 26th edition of the Miami Masters event and is played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida, located near Miami...

 in Miami
Key Biscayne, Florida
Key Biscayne is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States on the island of Key Biscayne. The population was 10,507 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,324....

, he suffered a shock loss, losing his opening match to Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus is a Belgian tennis player. He was born in Namur, Belgium, and currently resides in Auvelais, Belgium.-Career:...

, 2–6, 7–6, 4–6. This was his first opening-round defeat since losing to Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Vetea Santoro is a retired French professional male tennis player from Tahiti. Though not counted among the top ranked players, he had an unusually long professional career – with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career – and he is popular among spectators and other...

 at the 2007 BNP Paribas Masters. Djokovic then announced that he had ceased working with Todd Martin
Todd Martin
----Todd Christopher Martin is a former professional tennis player from the United States.-Playing career:...

 as his coach. He admitted that Martin had attempted to have him change his service motion, a tweaking of technique which caused him to routinely produce a high number of double faults in his matches and significantly reduced the threat on serve.

In his first clay-court tournament of the year at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
The 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, a tennis tournament for male professional players, was played from April 10 through April 18, 2010, on outdoor clay courts. It was the 104th edition of the annual Monte Carlo Masters tournament, which is sponsored by Rolex for the second time...

, top-seeded Djokovic reached the semifinals with wins over Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. He also holds German citizenship as his father is German. His career ranking high is no. 9, achieved on 9 June 2008. He considers clay his best surface and his backhand his best shot...

 and in-form David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...

. There, he lost for the first time in his last five meetings to Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...

, 2–6, 2–6. Djokovic again lost to Verdasco at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia
2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
The 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia was a tennis tournament, being played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 67th edition of the event and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2010 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2010 WTA Tour...

 in Rome, this time in the quarterfinals, 6–7, 6–3, 4–6. Djokovic later said that his recent form had been hindered by allergies for the last two months.

As the defending champion at his hometown event, the Serbia Open
2010 Serbia Open
The 2010 Serbia Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 2nd edition of the event. It was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...

 in Belgrade, he withdrew in the quarterfinals while trailing 4–6 to world no. 330, Filip Krajinović
Filip Krajinovic
Filip Krajinović is a Serbian professional tennis player, who is, as of 21 June 2010, ranked World No. 170. As a former World No. 6 junior player, he reached semifinals of Wimbledon Championships and US Open in 2008...

. He later announced his withdrawal from the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open
2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open
The 2010 Madrid Masters was played on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from May 7 – May 16. It was the 9th edition of the event on the ATP and 2nd on the WTA...

 because of illness.

Djokovic entered the 2010 French Open
2010 French Open
The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 109th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year...

 seeded third. He defeated Evgeny Korolev
Evgeny Korolev
Evgeny Korolev is a Kazakhstani tennis player and the cousin of former Russian player Anna Kournikova. He began playing tennis at age four with his father, and picked up his first ATP points at age 15 in three German challenger events...

, Kei Nishikori
Kei Nishikori
is a Japanese tennis player, currently ranked 25th in the world, as of 10 October 2011. He began playing tennis at the age of five, and on 17 July 2007 he qualified for his first ATP main draw event at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, California at the age of 17.-Junior career:Nishikori won...

, Victor Hănescu
Victor Hanescu
Victor Hănescu is a Romanian tennis player. He achieved his career high rank of no. 26 on July 6, 2009.- Professional career :...

, and Robby Ginepri
Robby Ginepri
Robert Louis Ginepri is an American professional tennis player.-Early life:Robby Ginepri is of Luxembourgish ancestry....

 en route to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer is an Austrian tennis player. He reached a career-high ranking of no. 8 on 18 April 2011, and a doubles ranking of no. 6 on 13 September 2010. He is the only current player on the ATP Tour to be ranked in the top 10 in both singles and doubles. He is a left-handed tennis player, but...

 in five sets, 6–3, 6–2, 2–6, 6–7, 4–6. With Melzer serving for the match at 5–4 in the fifth set, Djokovic hit a cross-court forehand that would have given him a love–30 lead on the point. A late call confirmed by umpire Carlos Bernardes ruled it out, a call which Djokovic contested with Bernardes. Djokovic lost the point and the match. Later Hawk-Eye
Hawk-Eye
Hawk-Eye is a complex computer system used in cricket, tennis and other sports to visually track the trajectory of the ball and display a record of its most statistically likely path as a moving image. In cricket and tennis, it is now part of the adjudication process. It was developed by engineers...

 examination showed that Djokovic had been correct and the ball had indeed been in; it was the first time that Djokovic had lost a Grand Slam singles match after winning the first two sets.

Djokovic once again entered the 2010 Wimbledon Championships
2010 Wimbledon Championships
The 2010 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from Monday 21 June until Sunday 4 July 2010. It was the 124th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand...

 as third seed, where he defeated Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus is a Belgian tennis player. He was born in Namur, Belgium, and currently resides in Auvelais, Belgium.-Career:...

, Taylor Dent
Taylor Dent
Taylor Phillip Dent is a retired professional tennis player from the United States.-Early career and back injury:He won 4 ATP singles titles during his career: Newport , Bangkok , Memphis , and Moscow , and reached the finals of three other events on tour...

, Alberto Montanes, Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...

, and Yen-Hsu Lu en route to the semifinals, where he lost to Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...

 in straight sets, 3–6, 6–7, 3–6.

Djokovic then competed at the Rogers Cup
2010 Rogers Cup
The 2010 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Canada. It was the 121st edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2010 WTA Tour...

 in Toronto, where he faced Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

 in the semifinals, losing 1–6, 6–3, 5–7. Djokovic also competed in doubles with Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

 in a one-time, high-profile partnership. That was first time since 1976, when Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....

 and Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...

 as world no.1 and no.2 paired up, making a doubles dream team. However, they lost in the first round to Canadians Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic is a Canadian professional tennis player from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada.Born in what is now Podgorica, Montenegro, Raonic moved to Canada with his family at the age of 3. Raonic is Canada's highest ATP ranked male singles player and the country's highest ever ranked player since...

 and Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil is a Canadian professional tennis player. Pospisil is currently ranked World No. 124 in singles and No. 115 in doubles, both career highs. As Canada's No. 2 in singles and No...

. Djokovic lost in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati to Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

.
As the third seed at the US Open
2010 US Open – Men's Singles
Juan Martín del Potro was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year, after undergoing a wrist operation in May and only starting to practice again in August...

, Djokovic was very close to losing in the opening round, rallying from two sets to one down, a break in the fourth set, and several break points which would have put him down two breaks in the fourth set to beat countryman Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has Serb and Russian ethnic roots. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Tver and Rostov-on-Don to Serbia in 1917. His career-high ranking is no. 12, achieved on 6 June 2011. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup,...

 in extreme heat. Djokovic eventually won, 6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 7–5, 6–3. He then defeated Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner is a professional German tennis player. He is known for his hard-hitting and incredible bursts of speed around the court, and now for controversy in the US Open Men's Doubles Final which he won partnered with Jurgen Melzer against the Polish team of Fystenberg/Matkowski...

, Americans James Blake
James Blake
James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...

 and Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...

, and number 17 seed Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...

, all in straight sets to reach the US Open semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. In the semifinals, he faced Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

, to whom he had lost the 2007 final and 2008 and 2009 semifinals. Very close to losing, Djokovic rallied to win 5–7, 6–1, 5–7, 6–2, 7–5, saving two match points at 5–4 down on his serve in the final set. The win ended a streak of four consecutive losses in Grand Slam semifinals. It was also 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. It also made him one of only two players to hold more than one victory over Federer in Grand Slam tournaments since Federer first became world number 1 (the other being Nadal). Djokovic lost to Nadal, 4–6, 7–5, 4–6, 2–6, 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
2010 China Open (tennis)
The 2010 China Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 12th edition of the China Open, and is part of the ATP 500 Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2010 WTA Tour...

 as the top seed and defending champion. He won the title for the second successive year, after defeating Maoxin Gong, Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...

 (the American withdrew so this win is considered a "walkover"), Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour...

, and John Isner
John Isner
John Robert Isner is an American professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high rank of no. 18 on July 5, 2010, and has been as high as the second-ranked American tennis player behind Andy Roddick...

 en route to the final. Djokovic then defeated the eighth-seeded Spaniard, David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...

 in the final, 6–2, 6–4.

At the Shanghai Masters, Djokovic made a semifinal appearance, losing to Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

, 4–6, 5–7.

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
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

, Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...

, and Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

. Djokovic won his first round-robin match against Berdych, 6–3, 6–3. He next faced Nadal, where he fell in straight sets, 5–7, 2–6. Djokovic stated after the match that he could barely see out of his right eye, and at 4–4 in the first set Djokovic had to change his contact lenses. Throughout the match, Djokovic used three different types of contact lenses in the match to try to settle the problem. He defeated Roddick 6–2, 6–3 in his final round-robin match and was safely through to the semifinals, finishing second in the group to set up a mouth-watering clash with Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

. He lost to eventual champion Federer, 1–6, 4–6. Djokovic later went on win two of his singles rubbers in Serbia's Davis Cup finals victory over France; starting his unbeaten run that went on through 2011, and which was broken also by Federer on the French Open of the next year. 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
Olympic Committee of Serbia
Olympic Committee of Serbia is the National Olympic Committee representing Serbia. It organizes the country's representatives at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games as well as at smaller events such as the Mediterranean Games.-History :...

 and "Serbian Athlete of the year" by DSL Sport
DSL Sport
Sport is a Serbian daily sports newspaper. Тhе first edition was published on 5 May 1945 under the name Fiskultura...

.

2011

Djokovic's 2011 season was a great one. Djokovic won ten tournaments this year, 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
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...

 titles, and set a new record for the most prize money won in a single season on the ATP World Tour (10.6 million dollars).. His level dropped at season's end beginning with a back injury and ended with a poor showing at the ATP Championships. Djokovic finished the season with a 70–6 record and No. 1 in the world.

Davis Cup

In 2006, Djokovic got the decisive win on 9 April, against Great Britain by defeating Greg Rusedski
Greg Rusedski
Gregory "Greg" Rusedski is a British Canadian former tennis player who turned professional in 1991 and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33...

 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
Davis Cup structure
The Davis Cup tennis competition is structured around a number of groups, with promotion and relegation between them.At the top is the World Group, which competes in a knockout competition. Below that it becomes regional, with an American Zone, Euro/African Zone and Asia/Oceania Zone. Each of these...

. Following this match-up, a lot of media buzz appeared about Djokovic's camp negotiating with the Lawn Tennis Association
Lawn Tennis Association
The Lawn Tennis Association is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.As the governing body, the LTA is responsible for the coaching and development of junior players, offering courses and qualifications on coaching, as well as the...

 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:
By winning all three of his matches, Djokovic played a key role in the 2007 play-off win over Australia
Australia Davis Cup team
The Australian Davis Cup team is the second most successful team ever to compete in the Davis Cup, winning the coveted title on 23 separate occasions, second behind the United States with 32....

, promoting the Serbia Davis Cup team
Serbia Davis Cup team
The Serbian Davis Cup team represents Serbia in the Davis Cup tennis competition. The team started playing in 2007, following the split of Serbia and Montenegro.Serbia is the current winner of the Davis Cup....

 to World Group
2008 Davis Cup World Group
The World Group is the highest level of Davis Cup competition in 2008. The first round losers go into the 2008 Davis Cup World Group Play-offs while the winners progress to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinalists are guaranteed a World Group spot for 2009....

 in 2008. In Serbia's tie against Russia
Russia Davis Cup team
The Russia Davis Cup team represents Russia in Davis Cup tennis competition and is governed by the Russian Tennis Federation. The team started playing in 1993....

 in early 2008, in Moscow, Djokovic was sidelined due to influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...

 and was forced to miss his first singles match. He returned to win his doubles match, teaming with Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjic
Nenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.-Career:...

, before being forced to retire during his singles match with Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

. 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
Sam Querrey
Sam Austin Querrey is a professional American tennis player from Thousand Oaks, California currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of August 2010, he is the fourth-highest ranked American. His career high rank was #17, achieved on January 31, 2011. His height allows him to play with a strong...

 and John Isner
John Isner
John Robert Isner is an American professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high rank of no. 18 on July 5, 2010, and has been as high as the second-ranked American tennis player behind Andy Roddick...

). Later, Serbia progressed to the Davis Cup final, following the victories over Croatia
Croatia Davis Cup team
The Croatia Davis Cup team represents Croatia in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Croatian Tennis Association.Croatia won the Davis Cup in 2005...

 (4–1) and Czech Republic
Czech Republic Davis Cup team
The Czech Republic Davis Cup team represents the Czech Republic in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Czech Tennis Federation. The Czech team was started in 1993, following the Czechoslovakian break-up....

 (3–2). Serbia came from 1–2 down to defeat France
France Davis Cup team
The France Davis Cup team represents France in Davis Cup tennis competition, and is governed by the Fédération Française de Tennis.France is the third most successful nation, with 9 wins...

 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
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour...

 and Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...

. 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
Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has Serb and Russian ethnic roots. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Tver and Rostov-on-Don to Serbia in 1917. His career-high ranking is no. 12, achieved on 6 June 2011. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup,...

.

In the semi finals of the 2011 Davis Cup
2011 Davis Cup
The 2011 Davis Cup is the 100th edition of a tournament between national teams in men's tennis.The draw took place in September 2010 in Brussels, Belgium.-World Group:...

 Djokovic played a crucial rubber match for Serbia against Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...

 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 29 times (which is the sixth-most head-to-head meetings in the Open Era) with Nadal having a 16–13 advantage. Nadal leads on grass 2–1 and clay 9–2, but Djokovic leads on hard courts 10–5. 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 six times consecutively and consecutively on clay. The two share the record for the longest match played in a best of three sets (4 hours and 2 minutes), at the 2009 Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals. In the 2011 Wimbledon final, Djokovic won in four sets 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3, which was his first victory over Nadal in a Major on his sixth attempt. 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
Mary Carillo
Mary Carillo is an American sportscaster and former professional tennis player.-Tennis career:Carillo played on the women's professional tennis circuit from 1977 to 1980. She was ranked as high as number 33, in the WTA Rankings, from January through March 1980, then retired due to knee injuries...

), which includes the rivalries among the top three in tennis (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic). In their most recent encounter, Djokovic defeated Nadal in the 2011 US Open Final 6–2, 6–4, 6–7, 6–1 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.

Djokovic-Federer rivalry

Djokovic and Federer have met 24 times, with Federer leading 14–10. Federer leads on all surfaces on which the two have played (they have never met on grass). Djokovic is the only player other than Nadal who has defeated Federer in consecutive grand slam tournament matches. The quality of the matches they play is outstanding and is usually classified with matches played between Nadal and Federer. 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 tight sets (6–7, 6–7, 4–6) after squandering five set points in the first set and two more in the second. 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 at the tournament in 2010 and 2011 not only being at the semi-final stage, but also being five-set epics with Djokovic saving two match points before going on to win on both occasions.

Djokovic-Murray rivalry

Djokovic and Murray have met 10 times with Djokovic leading 6–4. Djokovic leads 2–0 on clay, and the players are tied 4–4 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, and indeed match, was the 2011 Australian Open
2011 Australian Open
The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players were held...

 final, in which Djokovic won comfortably in straight sets 6–4, 6–2, 6–3. 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
2011 Western & Southern Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer was the two-time defending champion, but lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals.Andy Murray won the tournament beating No.1 seed Novak Djokovic in the final, 6–4, 3–0 ret. It was the 7th ATP Masters 1000 title of Murray's career, and his first in 2011...

 (Murray won after Djokovic retired with a shoulder injury trailing by a set and a break). The loss marked only the second of the season for Djokovic.

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
Serve (tennis)
A serve in tennis is a shot to start a point. A player begins a serve by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it into the diagonally opposite backside box without being stopped by the net. The ball can only touch the net on a return and will be considered good if it falls on the opposite side...

 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. Darren Cahill
Darren Cahill
Darren Cahill is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from Australia.Nicknamed "Killer", Cahill turned professional in 1984...

 has stated that Djokovic, along with David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...

, is the best returner of serve in the men's game. Occasionally, Djokovic employs a well-disguised backhand underspin drop shot
Drop shot
A drop shot in tennis is slicing, putting a backspin on the ball just over the net. A good drop shot travels such that the opponent is unable to run fast enough to retrieve it....

 and sliced backhand. His drop shots still tend to be a drawback when hit under pressure and without proper preparation.

Entering the pro circuit, Djokovic used Wilson
Wilson Sporting Goods
The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is a sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, and currently is a foreign subsidiary of the Finnish company Amer Sports....

 rackets, continuing so until the end of 2008. At that time, he switched to Head
Head (company)
Head N.V. is a sports equipment and clothing company, known mainly for their alpine skis and tennis racquets. Founded as a ski company in Baltimore, Maryland, the company is currently headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Kennelbach, Austria...

 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
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....

 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. Pat Cash
Pat Cash
Patrick Hart "Pat" Cash is a retired Australian professional tennis player who won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1987.-Early career:...

 declared that Djokovic's performance in the 2011 season puts him among the best players in history. "I feel Djokovic is better than Federer in his prime because he has greater opposition," Cash stated.

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
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....

. Player and coach reportedly parted ways over the latter's refusal to devote to Djokovic full time.

Since June 2006, Djokovic has been coached by Slovakian former professional tennis player Marián Vajda
Marián Vajda
Marián Vajda is a former Slovak tennis player.Vajda was a member of the Olympic Team of Czechoslovakia where in 1992 he competed in the Olympic Games of Barcelona, being easily eliminated in the first round against Israel by 7–6, 6–1, 6–0.Vajda is a former captain of the Slovakia Davis Cup and Fed...

. 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
Mark Woodforde
Mark Woodforde is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge....

 with specific emphasis on volleys and net play while from August 2009 until April 2010 American Todd Martin
Todd Martin
----Todd Christopher Martin is a former professional tennis player from the United States.-Playing career:...

 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
Gluten
Gluten is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and related grain species, including barley and rye...

, 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
Telekom Srbija
Telekom Srbija is a telecommunications company based in Serbia, with its headquarters in Belgrade...

 and German nutritional supplement brand FitLine.

Since turning professional in 2003, Djokovic wore Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...

 clothing and footwear. At the end of 2009, Djokovic signed a 10-year deal with the Italian clothing company Sergio Tacchini
Sergio Tacchini
Sergio Tacchini is an Italian fashion designer of sportswear and former professional tennis player. The sportswear firm bearing his name is located in Bellinzago Novarese, Novara, Italy.- Tennis career :...

 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
Konzum
Konzum is Croatia's largest supermarket chain with just over 600 stores open in Croatia and has more than 10,000 employees. Its headquarters are in Zagreb. Konzum stores can also be found in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. Konzum receives over 500,000 customers each day . Konzum also operates a...

.

In August 2011, Djokovic became the brand ambassador of Swiss watch manufacturer Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet is a manufacturer of prestige Swiss watches which compete with Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vacheron Constantin.-Foundation:...

. Less than a month later, Djokovic signed a sponsorship deal with German car company Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

.

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
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...

, its initial focus was the restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

 business. As Novak's tennis earnings increased, the company whose day-to-day operations are mostly handled by Novak's father Srdjan and uncle Goran expanded its activities into real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

, sports/entertainment event organization, and sports apparel distribution.

The company's initial holdings consisted of a Kopaonik
Kopaonik
Kopaonik ; is one of the larger mountain ranges of Serbia. It is located in the central part of Serbia, while a small portion extendeds to North Kosovo. Its highest point, Pančić's Peak, is above sea level....

-located pizzeria and crêpe
Crêpe
A crêpe or crepe , is a type of very thin pancake, usually made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour . The word is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled". While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is widespread in France...

 parlour called Red Bull, which predates the company itself. As Djokovic built a name for himself on the professional circuit, the company opened two theme cafés named Novak Café – one in Kraljevo
Kraljevo
Kraljevo is a city and municipality in central Serbia, built beside the river Ibar, 7 km west of its confluence with the Western Morava. It is located in the midst of an upland valley, between the mountains of Kotlenik in the north, and Stolovi in the south.In 2011 the city has population of...

 (since closed) and one in Kragujevac
Kragujevac
Kragujevac is the fourth largest city in Serbia, the main city of the Šumadija region and the administrative centre of Šumadija District. It is situated on the banks of the Lepenica River...

 – as well as Novak Café & Restaurant in the Belgrade's municipality of Novi Beograd
Novi Beograd
Novi Beograd or New Belgrade is the most populous municipality that constitutes the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a planned city, built in 1947 on the left bank of the Sava river which was previously an uninhabited area, opposite of the old Belgrade...

.

On 7 December 2007, after both 2007 ATP
2007 ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.-January:...

 and WTA
2007 WTA Tour
The 2007 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the 35th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on January 1, 2007, and concluded on November 11, 2007 after 61 events. Two new events were added to the schedule for the 2007 season: the Barcelona KIA and Gastein Ladies. It also...

 seasons ended, Family Sport organized NAJJ Srbije exhibition event at Belgrade Arena
Belgrade Arena
The Belgrade Arena is an indoor arena located in Novi Beograd, Belgrade. It is designed as a universal hall for sport, cultural events and other programs. With a total space that covers 48,000 square metres, and an official total capacity of 19,982 seats , it is one of the largest indoor arenas in...

, conceptualized as the celebration of recent Serbian tennis players' success. In addition to Djokovic, three other Serbian tennis players – Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...

, Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...

, and Janko Tipsarević
Janko Tipsarevic
Janko Tipsarević is a Serbian tennis player. His career-high ranking is No. 9, achieved on 14 November 2011. He is the 117th player in history to crack the top 10....

 – took part, including local celebrity guests such as actor Nikola Đuričko and band Van Gogh
Van Gogh (band)
Van Gogh is a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band from Belgrade. The band was formed in 1986, and released their debut alternative rock-oriented self-titled album the same year...

. The 20,000 seat arena was packed with fans, including the country's president Boris Tadić
Boris Tadic
Boris Tadić is the President of Serbia and leader of the Democratic Party. He was elected to a five-year term on 27 June 2004, and was sworn into office on 11 July. He was re-elected for a de facto second five-year term on 3 February 2008 and was sworn in on 15 February...

 in attendance.

In February 2008, the company reached an agreement with local authorities in the city of Kragujevac
Kragujevac
Kragujevac is the fourth largest city in Serbia, the main city of the Šumadija region and the administrative centre of Šumadija District. It is situated on the banks of the Lepenica River...

 about jointly entering into a real estate development deal that was to include 4 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s of city-owned land at Veliki Park being developed into a tennis center with 14 courts. Almost simultaneously, in March 2008, the company won a municipal authority-organized tender
Tender offer
Tender offer is a corporate finance term denoting a type of takeover bid. The tender offer is a public, open offer or invitation by a prospective acquirer to all stockholders of a publicly traded corporation to tender their stock for sale at a specified price during a specified time, subject to...

 in Novi Beograd
Novi Beograd
Novi Beograd or New Belgrade is the most populous municipality that constitutes the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a planned city, built in 1947 on the left bank of the Sava river which was previously an uninhabited area, opposite of the old Belgrade...

 by submitting an €11 million bid for the 3.8 hectares of land located in Ivan Ribar
Blokovi
Blokovi is the semi-formal plural name for a group of urban neighborhoods in Belgrade's municipality of Novi Beograd....

 neighbourhood; with the initial ambitious plan being to build another tennis center there in addition to the one planned in Kragujevac.

During August 2008, in Novi Beograd, Family Sport opened Novak Shop, sports apparel store devoted to Novak Djokovic. As Djokovic switched from Wilson to Head equipment to start the 2009 tennis season, Family Sport became the official importer and distributor of Head equipment for Serbia.

By 2009, despite assurances from both Family Sport and Kragujevac mayor Verko Stevanović
Veroljub Stevanović
Veroljub Stevanović born 17 September 1946, Kragujevac, Serbia. Is a Serbian politician and current Mayor of Kragujevac.-Biography:Graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kragujevac in City of Kragujevac....

 that things will go ahead as planned, the Kragujevac deal stalled and the company turned its focus back to Belgrade as they managed to buy an ATP tournament known as the Dutch Open and bring it to Serbia where it became – Serbia Open
Serbia Open
The Serbia Open is an ATP World Tour 250 series men's tennis tournament held in Belgrade, Serbia. It is currently played on outdoor clay courts. The event was held for the first time in 2009, from May 4–10...

. However, since no construction had taken place on either the Ivan Ribar site or the Kragujevac's Veliki Park site, they had to find a new location for the tournament. With the help of Belgrade city authorities, the tournament's inaugural edition was thus held during May 2009 at the city-owned 'Milan Gale Muškatirović' courts, located at an attractive spot in Dorćol
Dorcol
Dorćol is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad.- Location :Dorćol begins already some 700 meters north of Terazije, the central square of Belgrade...

 neighbourhood surrounded by Kalemegdan Park
Kalemegdan Park
Kalemegdan Park is the largest park and the most important historical monument in Belgrade. It is located on a cliff, at the junction of the River Sava and the Danube...

, the Belgrade Fortress, Nebojša Tower, and the confluence of Sava river into Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

. For the tournament needs, existing clay courts were refurbished with temporary stands added in addition to constructing a low-rise building adjacent to the main court. Later on in 2009, Novak Café & Restaurant (second one in Belgrade), as well as a spa and a gym were opened in the said building. For the tournament editions in subsequent years, the refurbished tennis complex was renamed Novak Tennis Center. In 2010, Novak Shop got moved from its original location into the center.

Ahead of the 2010 tennis season when Djokovic signed with Sergio Tacchini after getting dropped by Adidas, the terms of the contract with the Chinese-owned Italian clothing manufacturer included Family Sport becoming the official Sergio Tacchini apparel distributor for South Eastern Europe.

In February 2010, almost two years after buying the land in Novi Beograd, the company announced detailed plans for a tennis center that is to also include a hotel, restaurants, and a shopping area. As the Novi Beograd plans were unveiled, speculation appeared that Family Sport wants to pull out of the Kragujevac deal. One month later in March, rumours proved true as the company announced it is pulling out of Kragujevac deal due to "political pressure in the municipality". In fall 2010, the company once again reaffirmed its commitment and intention to build a world-class tennis center in Novi Beograd. As of fall 2011, construction is yet to commence.

On Monday, 4 July 2011, one day after Djokovic won Wimbledon, Family Sport organized the homecoming reception in front of the National Assembly
National Assembly of Serbia
The National Assembly of Serbia is the unicameral parliament of Serbia. It is composed of 250 proportionally elected deputies elected in general elections by secret ballot, on 4 years term. The National Assembly elects the President of the National Assembly who presides over the sessions...

 building with more than 80,000 people gathering to greet him. The event that among other things featured performances from musical acts such as Električni Orgazam
Električni Orgazam
Električni Orgazam is a Serbian rock band from Belgrade. Originally starting as a combination of New Wave, punk rock and post-punk, the band later slowly changed their style, becoming a mainstream rock act.- New Wave years :...

, Tap 011
Tap 011
Tap 011 is a popular Serbian pop group, active in the period 1994-2002 and again from 2011. Tap 011 predecessor was a rap group Tapiri consisting of Milan Bojanic, Djordje Pajovic - Djole, Petar Stupar-Pera and some members of the variable...

, Miroslav Ilić
Miroslav Ilic
Miroslav Ilić , is a popular Serbian folk singer-songwriter. He is known for his powerful vocals and emotional lyrics. Before becoming a musician he took Electrical courses at a University of Skopje...

, and Vlado Georgiev
Vlado Georgiev
Vlado Georgiev is a popular Serbian pop singer, composer and lyrics writer as well.Born to Serbian parents , Georgiev was raised in Herceg Novi...

 was offered as a television package to Serbian networks and broadcast live in prime time on Prva
Prva
Prva or Prva Srpska Televizija or 1Prva is a Serbian commercial television network.Launched in December 2006, the network is owned by Greek Antenna Group since December 2009. From its inception until December 2009, the network was majority owned by global media conglomerate News Corporation...

 television network with national coverage in Serbia, which bought the rights for the event.

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 2011 US Open
2011 US Open (tennis)
The 2011 US Open was a tennis tournament played on the outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, of Queens, New York City, United States...

.

Tournament2003
2003 ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.- January :...

2004
2004 ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.- January :...

200520062007
2007 ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.-January:...

2008
2008 ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.-Schedule:This...

2009
2009 ATP World Tour
The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organised by the ATP. The 2009 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World...

2010
2010 ATP World Tour
The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2010 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World...

2011
2011 ATP World Tour
The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2011 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World...

2012
2012 ATP World Tour
The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2012 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World...

|SR|W–L|Win %
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A 1R 1R 4R W QF QF
2010 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but retired due to a right knee injury trailing 3–6, 6–7, 0–3 in the quarterfinals against Andy Murray.Roger Federer met Andy Murray in the final of this event...

W
2011 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, who went on to win the tournament by defeating Andy Murray 6–4, 6–2, 6–3 in the final. It was Djokovic's 2nd title at the Australian Open, with this title bearing many resemblances to his title in 2008. Djokovic...

2 / 7 25–5 83.33
French Open A A 2R QF SF SF 3R
2009 French Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion but lost in the fourth round to Robin Söderling. This was Nadal's first ever defeat at the French Open, having won the title in all six of his other appearances...

QF
2010 French Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Robin Söderling, which allowed him to make a second-successive final here. This was the first time since the 2004 French Open that Federer did not reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament.Rafael Nadal won his fifth...

SF
2011 French Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal, the defending champion and, after this tournament, six-time winner of this event defended his title by beating long-time rival Roger Federer for his sixth French Open title, tying him with Björn Borg for most all-time in the open era. Notably, the Spaniard played his first ever...

0 / 7 25–7 78.12
Wimbledon A A 3R 4R SF 2R QF SF
2010 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
The Men's Singles event at the 2010 saw Rafael Nadal, the World No. 1 and 2nd seed, defeat 12th seed Tomáš Berdych 6–3 7–5 6–4 in the final to win his 2nd Wimbledon title, and his 8th Grand Slam title overall....

W
2011 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion but lost to Novak Djokovic in the final.Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title. Upon reaching the final, he gained the World No.1 ranking as a result. This marks the first time that neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal is ranked No...

1 / 7 27–6 81.81
US Open A A 3R 3R F SF SF F
2010 US Open – Men's Singles
Juan Martín del Potro was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year, after undergoing a wrist operation in May and only starting to practice again in August...

W
2011 US Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic with a score of 6–2, 6–4, 6–7, 6–1. Djokovic claimed his first US Open title, his third Grand Slam of the year, and his fourth Grand Slam overall.-Seeds:...

1 / 7 33–6 84.62
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 5–4 9–4 19–4 18–3 15–4 19–4 25–1 0–0 4 / 28 110–24 82.1

Singles: 6 (4–2)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 2007 US Open Hard Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

6–7(4–7), 6–7(2–7), 4–6
Winner 2008 Australian Open
Australian Open
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

Hard   Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(7–2)
Runner-up 2010
2010 US Open – Men's Singles
Juan Martín del Potro was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year, after undergoing a wrist operation in May and only starting to practice again in August...

US Open (2) Hard   Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

4–6, 7–5, 4–6, 2–6
Winner 2011 Australian Open (2) Hard   Andy Murray 6–4, 6–2, 6–3
Winner 2011
2011 Wimbledon Championships
The 2011 Wimbledon Championships took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England, from 20 June to 3 July 2011. It was the 125th edition of the championships, and the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. It was played on grass courts and was part of the...

 
Wimbledon  Grass   Rafael Nadal 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3
Winner 2011
2011 US Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic with a score of 6–2, 6–4, 6–7, 6–1. Djokovic claimed his first US Open title, his third Grand Slam of the year, and his fourth Grand Slam overall.-Seeds:...

US Open Hard   Rafael Nadal 6–2, 6–4, 6–7(3–7), 6–1

Career statistics

Novak Djokovic is one of only four players (David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...

, Andy Murray, and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

 being the other three) to beat Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

 three times in one calendar year, and one of only two players (Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...

 being the other) to beat both Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

 and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

 in a Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...

 in consecutive matches. He is also one of four players (Nalbandian, Murray and Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

 being the other) to beat Federer and Nadal in the same tournament twice, accomplishing that feat when he won the 2011 Indian Wells Masters 1000
2011 BNP Paribas Open
The 2011 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2011. It was the 36th edition of the event, known as the BNP Paribas Open, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the 2011...

 event. 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
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

, 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).

Djokovic was the runner-up at the 2007 and 2010
2010 US Open (tennis)
The 2010 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 30 to September 13, 2010 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, United States....

 US Open tournaments (to Federer and Nadal, respectively), and a bronze medalist
Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's Singles
The Men's Singles tennis competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 10 to August 17 at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre. The DecoTurf surface rendered the event a hardcourt competition. Matches were in best-of-3 sets, except for the final which was in best-of-5 sets...

 representing Serbia
Serbia at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Serbia competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. The country returned under the name Serbia after 96 years, previously competing under the names Yugoslavia , Independent Olympic Participants , Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro .The flag on the opening ceremony...

 at the 2008 Olympic Games. In addition, Djokovic won the Tennis Masters Cup
Tennis Masters Cup
The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is a tennis tournament played at the end of each year, involving the top eight players in the men's tennis world rankings....

 in 2008, and has won ten Masters Series
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...

 tournaments, five only in 2011, a record. In 2010, he led Serbia to win the Davis Cup
2010 Davis Cup
The 2010 Davis Cup was the 99th edition of the most important annual tournament among national teams in men's tennis worldwide...

. Djokovic finished the ATP Tour as World No. three for four consecutive years between 2007 and 2010.

From the 2010 Davis Cup finals to the 2011 French Open
2011 French Open
The 2011 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 110th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year...

, Djokovic had a 43-match win streak, third only to Guillermo Vilas
Guillermo Vilas
Guillermo Apolinario Vilas is a retired and former World No. 2 professional tennis player from Argentina. He was the second Latin-American to win a Grand Slam tournament.-Career:...

 (46 matches in 1977) and Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl 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...

 (44 matches in 1981/1982). This includes titles at the Australian Open, Dubai
2011 Dubai Tennis Championships
The 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships was a 500 Series event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2011 WTA Tour. The tournament was known as the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for sponsorship reasons...

, Indian Wells Masters
2011 BNP Paribas Open
The 2011 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2011. It was the 36th edition of the event, known as the BNP Paribas Open, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the 2011...

, Miami Masters
2011 Sony Ericsson Open
The 2011 Sony Ericsson Open , a men's and women's tennis tournament, was held from March 21 to April 3, 2011. It was the 27th edition of the Miami Masters event and played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami...

, Serbia Open
2011 Serbia Open
The 2011 Serbia Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. The third edition of the event hosted by current Serbian star Novak Djokovic, it was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour...

, Madrid Masters, and the Rome Masters. He won 41 straight matches from the start of 2011 until the French Open semi-finals (where he was beaten by Roger Federer), second only to John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...

's record (he started 42–0 in 1984).

Order of Saint Sava

On 28 April 2011, in Belgrade, Patriarch Irinej of Serbia
Patriarch Irinej of Serbia
Patriarch Irinej is the 45th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs, since 22 January 2010. His full title is His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, Serbian Patriarch Irinej...

 awarded Djokovic the Order of St. Sava
Order of St. Sava
The Order of St. Sava was a decoration instituted by the order King Milan I of Serbia in 1883. The Order of Saint Sava originally was established to recognize civilians for meritorious achievements in the arts and sciences. In 1914 a change was made permitting military personnel to receive the...

 I class, the highest decoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...

. 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 of Kosovo and Metohija.

List of awards

2005
  • Best Male Tennis Player in Serbia and Montenegro
    Serbia and Montenegro
    Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...


2006
  • ATP Most Improved Player of the Year
  • Best Male Tennis Player in Serbia
    Serbia
    Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...


2007
  • ATP Most Improved Player of the Year
  • Best Male Tennis Player in Serbia
  • Best Sportsman by Olympic Committee of Serbia
    Olympic Committee of Serbia
    Olympic Committee of Serbia is the National Olympic Committee representing Serbia. It organizes the country's representatives at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games as well as at smaller events such as the Mediterranean Games.-History :...

  • Golden Badge of DSL Sport
    DSL Sport
    Sport is a Serbian daily sports newspaper. Тhе first edition was published on 5 May 1945 under the name Fiskultura...


2008
  • Best Male Tennis Player in Serbia

2009
  • Best Male Tennis Player In Serbia
  • Oscar Of Popularity Best Male Athlete

2010
  • Best Male Tennis Player In Serbia
  • Best Sportsman by Olympic Committee of Serbia
  • Golden Badge of DSL Sport
  • Oscar Of Popularity Best Male Athlete

2011
  • Order of St. Sava
    Order of St. Sava
    The Order of St. Sava was a decoration instituted by the order King Milan I of Serbia in 1883. The Order of Saint Sava originally was established to recognize civilians for meritorious achievements in the arts and sciences. In 1914 a change was made permitting military personnel to receive the...

     – First Class
  • ATP Player of the Year
  • ACE of the Year by GQ
  • Person of the Year by Nezavisne novine
    Nezavisne Novine
    Nezavisne novine is a daily newspaper based in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska entity, Milorad Dodik, provided some of funding for the launch of the newspaper. It was the first newspaper in Republika Srpska to publish articles about Serb war crimes....


Records

  • These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis and in ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...

     series since 1990.
    Tournament Year Record accomplished Player tied
    Australian Open
    Australian Open
    The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

     – 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
    Australian Open
    The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

     – Indian Wells Masters
    Indian Wells Masters
    The Indian Wells Masters is an annual tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California....

     – Miami Masters
    Miami Masters
    The Miami Masters is an annual tennis tournament for men and women held in Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida. It is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the men's tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the women's tour and is played on hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park...

    2011 Winning the hard court treble Pete Sampras
    Pete Sampras
    Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....

    , Andre Agassi
    Andre Agassi
    Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...

    , Roger Federer
    Roger Federer
    Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

    Grand slams 2011 Winning 3 Grand Slams in a calendar year Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal
    Rafael Nadal
    Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

    , Mats Wilander
    Mats Wilander
    Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...

    , Jimmy Connors
    Jimmy Connors
    James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....

    ATP World Tour 2011 Fastest player to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals – 18 weeks, 6 days Stands alone
    ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...

    2011 Most titles in a season – 5 Stands alone
    ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...

    2011 Most titles in events entered in a season – 5 Stands alone
    ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...

    2011 Most consecutive titles – 3 Rafael Nadal
    ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...

    2011 Longest winning streak – 31 Stands alone
    ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    ATP World Tour Masters 1000
    The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...

    2011 Most finals in a season – 6 Roger Federer
    Madrid Masters
    Madrid Open (tennis)
    The Madrid Open is a tournament for male and female professional tennis players, currently held in Madrid, Spain, during the first week of May...

    2009 Longest best-of-three sets men's singles match ever played (4 hours, 3 minutes) Rafael Nadal
    Dubai Tennis Open Championships 2009–2011 Most consecutive titles – 3 Roger Federer
    Serbia Open 2011 Most titles – 2 Stands alone
    Canada Masters
    Canada Masters
    The Canada Masters , currently sponsored as the Rogers Cup, is an annual tennis tournament held in Canada. The men's competition is a Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. The women's competition is a Premier 5 tournament on the Women's Tennis Association tour...

    2007 Youngest player to defeat the top 3 players in succession Stands alone
    Miami Masters
    Miami Masters
    The Miami Masters is an annual tennis tournament for men and women held in Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida. It is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the men's tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the women's tour and is played on hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park...

    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
    Rafael Nadal
    Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

     – 5) (also defeated Nadal at 2011 US Open, where rankings were by then reversed)
    Stands alone
    ATP World Tour 2011 Most prize money in one season ($11,019,803) 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
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. This year was the first contest to have two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the final held on 24 May 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
Željko Joksimovic
Željko Joksimović or often credited Zeljko Joksimovic is a popular Serbian singer, songwriter and producer. He is also well known in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Germany, Austria and other European countries...

, Djokovic sang a song about Belgrade.

Djokovic is also featured in the music video for the song "Hello
Hello (Martin Solveig song)
"Hello" is a song performed by French electronic music DJ and producer Martin Solveig, taken from his fifth studio album Smash . It features vocals from Canadian electro-pop act Dragonette. The song was released as the album's second single on September 6, 2010 by Mercury Records. It was also...

" by Martin Solveig
Martin Solveig
Martin Picandet, better known under his stage name Martin Solveig is a French electronic music DJ and producer from Paris. He also hosts a weekly radio show called "C'est La Vie" on stations worldwide including FG DJ Radio in his homeland...

 and Dragonette
Dragonette
Dragonette is a Canadian electropop group active since 2005. Dragonette consists of singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara, bassist and producer Dan Kurtz and drummer Joel Stouffer....

. The video, filmed at Stade Roland Garros
Stade Roland Garros
Le Stade de Roland Garros is a tennis venue located in Paris, France. It hosts the French Open tennis tournament , a Grand Slam event played annually in May and June. The facility was constructed in 1928 to host France's first defense of the Davis Cup...

, shows Solveig facing off against Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar, originally spelled "Sinclair" - , is a French record producer, House music DJ, remixer and owner of the label Yellow Productions.- Career history :...

, 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
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...

 band Zona B
Zona B
-History:Former Idoli bassist Zdenko Kolar and drummer Dušan Ristić "Rista" officially formed Zona B on November 29, 1986. After several personnel changes, the band got a default lineup featuring Jovan "Lole" Savić , Dušan "Duda" Bezuha , Tomislav "Toma" Rakijaš and Vladimir "Buca" Filipović...

 recorded the song "The Joker", dedicating it to Djokovic.

On 25 June 2011, its seventieth Congress in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, 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
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...

. Throughout spring 2009, during ATP Master Series tournaments in Madrid and Rome, respectively, the Serb was a guest on Pablo Motos
Pablo Motos
Pablo Motos is the host of El Hormiguero, a popular Spanish television show.- Radio :Pablo Motos media began his career as a broadcaster and director of Radio Requena...

' show El Hormiguero
El Hormiguero
El Hormiguero is a Spanish television program with a live audience focusing on comedy, science, and politics running since September 2006. It is hosted and produced by screenwriter Pablo Motos and aired on Cuatro, a Spanish television station, until June 11, 2011 but since September 5, 2011 is...

 followed by an appearance on the Fiorello Show hosted by Italian comedian Rosario Fiorello
Rosario Fiorello
Rosario Tindaro Fiorello , known just as Fiorello, is an Italian comedian, singer, radio and television presenter.-Career:...

. 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
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....

's show on TBS
TBS (TV channel)
TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...

. Djokovic's dramatic win at the US Open was followed by another television blitz including spots on Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...

, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

' The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...

, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

's Today as well as a walk-on appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....

. In mid-November 2011, he made a triumphant return to Rai 1's Fiorello Show.

He was voted the 19th most influential man on AskMen.com
AskMen.com
AskMen.com is a free online men’s web portal, with international versions in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia.-History:...

's Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2011. On invitation from film producer Avi Lerner
Avi Lerner
Avinoam Lerner is an Israeli-born film producer, primarily of American action movies.-Life and career:Lerner originally worked in movie theaters in Tel Aviv, but soon re-located to South Africa, where he produced several films in that country and also owned a chain of movie theaters there until he...

, Djokovic became part of the high-budget Hollywood movie production The Expendables 2
The Expendables 2
The Expendables 2 is an upcoming ensemble action film directed by Simon West and written by David Agosto and Ken Kaufman based on a story by Sylvester Stallone...

 in a cameo playing himself, which he shot on 29 November 2011 in a Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

 warehouse.

Personal life

Novak is a Serbian Orthodox Christian
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...

. On 28 April 2011, Patriarch Irinej of Serbia
Patriarch Irinej of Serbia
Patriarch Irinej is the 45th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs, since 22 January 2010. His full title is His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, Serbian Patriarch Irinej...

 awarded Novak the Order of St. Sava
Order of St. Sava
The Order of St. Sava was a decoration instituted by the order King Milan I of Serbia in 1883. The Order of Saint Sava originally was established to recognize civilians for meritorious achievements in the arts and sciences. In 1914 a change was made permitting military personnel to receive the...

 I class, the highest decoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...

, 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
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...

 and Italian Serie A side A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

.

Novak is fluent in Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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