The rise of a tennis great: How Novak Djokovic overcame adversity to reach the top

When it comes to a sportsman coming through adversity, one cannot look beyond Novak Djokovic. The Serbian, 33 , started off as a four-year-old when his father presented him with a tennis racket. Today, the father of two – Stefan and Tara – so far has almost $150 million in career earnings after his ninth Australian open crown on Sunday.

Born in Belgrade in erstwhile Yugoslavia, Djokovic today boasts 82 career titles putting him third on the all-time list of the Open Era, behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Although he liked skiing and football, tennis was his ultimate love.

Spotted by Yugoslav tennis player Jelena Gencic as a six-year-old in 1993 — the inaugural year of the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open — Djokovic trained for six years in his native country before going to the Pilic Academy in Germany. Described by Gencic as “the greatest talent since Monica Seles”, Djokovic had started winning every competition he entered by the time he was 14 years old.

Now living in Monte-Carlo, Djokovic has spoken on several occasions about a turbulent childhood where he was forced to queue up for milk and break in war-torn Serbia. “This only made me hungry for success,” Djokovic has explained on how he’s gone on to become one of the greats of tennis.

Djokovic may have ended up as one of the players whose career remained unfulfilled, had it not been for a chance meeting with nutritionist and fellow Serb, Dr Igor Cetojevic in the summer of 2010. The doctor ran a coarse test on the tennis player and hinted that Djokovic could be gluten intolerant. The doctor’s assessment proved right and Djokovic went on a two-week gluten-free and dairy-free diet. The results were instant as the Serbian went to win 10 tournaments while being crowned the world No. 1 within the next 12 months.

So far, Djokovic has won 18 Grand Slams — the third-most behind Federer and Nadal (20) — and has held the No. 1 spot on the ATP rankings for 308 weeks. Of the 18 Majors, Djokovic won just two — the Australian Open and US Open — by 2008. The rest of his 16 Grand Slams came after his conversion to a gluten-free diet.

While winning the 2016 French Open, Djokovic became only the eighth player in history to achieve the Career Grand Slam and also the third man to hold all four Major titles at once — the first since the legendary Rod Laver in 1969, and the first ever to do so on three different playing surfaces.

Matches involving Djokovic against top opponents including Federer, Nadal and Andy Murray have been classified as the biggest contests ever. His final lasting five hours and 53 minutes at the 2012 Australian Open against Nadal over five sets is considered to be one of the greatest tennis matches ever seen.

Djokovic, who has won five titles in the annual Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open so far, is a self-confessed fan of languages while speaking English, French, German, Italian and of course, Serbian.

The Serbian is also known for some quirky, offbeat stuff such as regular meditation sessions at Buddhist temples in an attempt to tap the positive power within himself. Whenever he is on grass surfaces, Djokovic likes to eat grass saying that it tastes like sweat.

At times, Djokovic uses the tennis court to come up with hilarious impersonations of other players including fellow players like Federer, Nadal, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova and even his own former coach Boris Becker.

In 2007, Djokovic launched the “Novak Djokovic Foundation” to help disadvantaged children, provide financial support to several young children in Serbia, support to kids who lost their parents in war, while also financing Serbian monasteries and churches.

‘Serve To Win’ is the title of Djokovic’s book in which he recounts his journey of scaling the peak of his sport. The book also provides readers a 14-day gluten-free diet plan for better fitness and lifestyle.

The Serbian Blues-rock band Zona B recorded the song ‘The Joker’, dedicated to Djokovic. He was also a part of the Hollywood movie ‘The Expendables 2’ in a cameo (pictured). However, his part was cut from the final version of the movie.

Following his triumph in a roller-coaster month in Australia, where he overcame public criticism from players and also had to contend with a stomach muscle injury, Djokovic was back to his calm self as he posed with the trophy on Brighton Beach in Melbourne on Monday.

Leave the last words to Djokovic himself: “Belief is the most common word to me, even more than hope. For one to achieve his dreams, he needs to believe in them truly.”