Novak Djokovic

Began playing at age four and made his pro debut at 16...Nicknamed Nole...Father, Srdjan and mother, Dijana own a pizzeria and pancake restaurant on a mountain in Serbia for last 15 years...He and his family opened a restaurant in Belgrade in April 2009 called "Novak"...Father, uncle and aunt were all professional skiers and his father was also an excellent soccer player...His father wanted him to be a soccer player or skier but excelled in tennis at an early age...Credits his family as inspiration for giving him so much support and says he wouldn’t be able to be where he is without their help...Younger brothers Marko (born Aug. 20, 1991) and Djordje (born July 17, 1995) are both in school and play tennis...Idol growing up was Pete Sampras...At age 12, attended Niki Pilic Academy in Munich and practiced there for almost two years before returning to Belgrade...Speaks Serbian, Italian, German and English.

Favorite surface is hard courts but considers himself an all around player...Best shot is backhand down the line...As a junior, advanced to Australian Open junior singles and doubles SF (w/Jenkins) in 2004...Has a 16-6 career singles record (2-0 in doubles) in 12 Davis Cup ties since 2004...His family invited 50 underprivileged Kosovo-Serb children to Belgrade in September 2007 to be courtside for Serbia-Australia Davis Cup World Group tie... Appeared in September 2007 Vogue Magazine...Named 2006-07 ATP Most Improved Player of Year...Elected to two-year term in June 2008 to ATP Player Council...Works with physiotherapist Milan Amanovic and Gebhard Phil-Gritsch, who used to work with Austrian Thomas Muster...Coached by former ATP pro and Slovak Republic native Marian Vajda (since June 2006) and began working with Todd Martin in Montreal in August 2009.

2009 -- The Serb finished No. 3 for a third straight year highlighted by five ATP World Tour titles in a career-high 10 finals…He is first player to finish No. 3 for three straight years since Mats Wilander from 1985-87…Led ATP World Tour in matches played (97), matches won (78) and hard court matches won (53), all personal bests…He reached QFs or better in 19 of 22 tournaments, including nine of 10 after Roland Garros…He reached four finals in his last seven tournaments going back to mid-August in Cincinnati* and during that stretch he won 29 of 33 matches with his only losses to Federer (twice), Davydenko and Soderling…He capped off final week of regular season with title in Paris* where he defeated No. 10 Soderling in QF, No. 2 Nadal in SF and No. 16 Monfils in a third-set tie-break final…He was also runner-up in four other ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments (33-8 record in Masters 1000 events)…

In first month of action he advanced to SF in Sydney (l. to Nieminen) and followed with a QF at Australian Open where he retired vs. Roddick due to heat illness…He returned to action in Marseille and lost to eventual champion Tsonga in SF…He picked up his first ATP World Tour title of year on Feb. 28 in Dubai, defeating Ferrer…Then played in first round Davis Cup tie against ‘08 champion Spain and lost to Ferrer and World No. 1 Nadal…Came in as defending champion in Indian Wells and lost in QF to No. 7 Roddick…Followed with runner-up in Miami* where he defeated No. 2 Federer in SF before falling to No. 4 Murray…

He opened clay-court campaign by reaching final in Monte-Carlo* with three consecutive three-set wins before losing to Nadal in three sets…He continued his fine form by reaching final at Rome* where he beat Federer in SF before losing to Nadal…Captured his hometown title at inaugural event in Belgrade, lucky loser Kubot to capture his second ATP World Tour title of season…Then advanced to SF in Madrid* where he lost to Nadal in a record four-hour and three-minute marathon (held three match points)…At Roland Garros, suffered his earliest loss in four years as he fell to Kohlschreiber in third round…On grass, reached final in Halle, saving five match points in 2nd RD win over Serra before losing to Haas in three sets…Also lost to Haas in four sets in QF at Wimbledon…

Returned after five-week break in Montreal*, where he lost to Roddick in QF…Followed with runner-up at Cincinnati*, defeating Nadal in SF before losing to Federer…Continued strong play at US Open, reaching SF (or better) for third straight year, falling to Federer for third time…Returned in October and captured title in Beijing (d. Cilic) and followed with SF at Shanghai* (l. to Davydenko…In November, he won back-to-back titles in Basel (d. Federer) and Paris* (d. Monfils)…In his SF win in Basel over Stepanek he saved three match points…Closed season by winning two of three round-robin matches at Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London (d. Davydenko, Nadal, l. to Soderling)…He compiled a 15-12 record vs. Top 10 opponents during season, winning seven of past nine since US Open…Also had a 15-2 record indoors and was 53-11 on hard, 17-6 on clay and 8-2 on grass.

2008 -- The young Serb finished No. 3 for a second straight season...The last player to do that was Pete Sampras in 1999-2000...Captured four titles in six finals, winning Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai as well as his first Grand Slam crown at Australian Open (d. Federer in SF, Tsonga in F)...Only dropped one set during fortnight in Melbourne, that coming in final...In March, reached SF in Dubai (l. to Roddick) and followed with title at AMS Indian Wells (d. Nadal in SF, Fish in F)...

After a 17-4 start in first three months, played well on clay (16-3) with SF at AMS Monte Carlo (ret. to Federer), won title at AMS Rome (d. Wawrinka) and reached SF at AMS Hamburg and Roland Garros (l. to Nadal both times)...Had chance to move to No. 2 in last two tournaments with a win over Nadal...On grass, advanced to final at Queen's, losing to Nadal again, before losing in 2nd RD at Wimbledon to Safin...During summer hard court circuit, reached QF at AMS Toronto, final at AMS Cincinnati (l. to Murray both times), won bronze medal at Beijing Olympics (d. Blake) and advanced to SF at US Open (l. to Federer)...

Then helped his country back into '09 Davis Cup World Group with playoff win over Slovak Republic before reaching Bangkok final (l. to Tsonga)...In final two AMS tournaments, reached 3rd RD in Madrid (l. to Karlovic) and Paris (l. to Tsonga)...Qualified for second straight Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, defeating Davydenko for the title...Compiled records of 43-12 on hard, 16-3 on clay and 5-2 on grass...Earned a career-high $5.6 million.

2007 -- Finished as youngest player in Top 10 and compiled his best season by capturing a personal-high five ATP titles while reaching his first Grand Slam final...Also led his country into 2008 Davis Cup World Group by defeating Australia in a playoff tie...Compiled a 19-4 record in Grand Slam play (losing to Federer and Nadal twice each) and 24-7 mark in ATP Masters Series tournaments...Began season by earning his first title Down Under in Adelaide (d. Guccione) and followed with 4th RD at Australian Open (l. to Federer)...In March, reached his first AMS final in Indian Wells (l. to Nadal) and followed with title in Miami without dropping a set (d. Nadal in QF, Murray in SF, Canas in F)...Held serve 58 of 59 games throughout and afterwards went from 10 to No. 7 on Apr. 2...

On clay, picked up title in Estoril (d. Robredo in SF, Gasquet in F) and followed with QF in AMS Rome (l. to Nadal) and Hamburg (l. to Moya) and SF at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal)...On grass, continued success at Wimbledon where he advanced to SF (ret. vs. Nadal with toe blister)... Compiled an 8-2 tie-break mark in six matches...In August, collected his second ATP Masters Series shield in Montreal where he posted wins over No. 3 Roddick (QF), No. 2 Nadal (SF) and No. 1 Federer (F) to become first player to defeat World's Top 3 since Boris Becker in October 1994 in Stockholm...He also became first player to beat Federer and Nadal in same tournament while they were ranked No. 1 and 2...

Made his third appearance at US Open and advanced to his first Slam final, getting past Stepanek in a four hour, 41 minute five-set marathon in 2nd RD before not dropping a set in wins over Moya (QF) and Ferrer (SF)...In title match against Federer, had five first set points and two more in second set before losing each in a tie-break....After a short break, led his country into '08 Davis Cup World Group by posting straight-set wins over Australia's Peter Luczak and Chris Guccione...In October, collected his fifth title in Vienna (d. Wawrinka) and followed with SF at AMS Madrid (l. to Nalbandian)... Lost in opening round only three times in 21 tournaments during year...

Qualified for his first Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and went 0-3 in round robin play...Also posted a 30-13 tie-break record, one of Top 5 marks on ATP circuit...Went 6-10 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 43-12 on hard (second most wins behind Federer's 44), 18-5 on clay and 6-2 on grass...Fired a career-high 518 aces to rank No. 6 in Ricoh ATP MatchFacts.

2006 -- Captured two ATP titles in three finals and finished as youngest player in year-end Top 20...Also made breakthrough in Grand Slam play with a QF at Roland Garros...After 1st RD exit at Australian Open (l. to Goldstein), reached SF in Zagreb (l. to Ljubicic) and QF in Rotterdam (l. to Stepanek) in February, falling to eventual champions in both...Went 2-5 in ATP tournaments the next three months before turning around season at Roland Garros, compiling a 17-4 record in next five tournaments...Reached first career Grand Slam QF (ret. vs. Nadal) in Paris, then advanced to 4th RD on grass at Wimbledon (l. to Ancic)...In next tournament, won Amersfoort title in first ATP final (d. Massu)...Took a nine-match winning streak into his second consecutive ATP final appearance following week in Umag, retiring with respiratory problems, up 3-1 in first-set tie-break against Wawrinka...

Returned to hard courts and reached 3rd RD at US Open (l. to Hewitt)...Went 5-1 in Davis Cup play during year, losing only to Federer in World Group playoff tie in September...Followed with his second ATP title in Metz (d. Melzer) and advanced to his first ATP Masters Series QF in Madrid with wins over Gasquet and Murray (l. to Gonzalez)...Compiled marks of 17-9 on hard, 14-5 on clay, 5-2 on carpet and 4-2 on grass...Also led ATP circuit with a 19-5 tie-break record (best pct.)...Went 2-7 vs. Top 10 opponents, defeating No. 9 Gonzalez at Roland Garros and No. 8 Robredo at Wimbledon...

2005 -- The No. 1 player from Serbia finished as youngest player in Top 100 at 18 years, 5 months...Opened the season by making his Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at the Australian Open (l. to Safin)...In March, won a pair of Davis Cup matches against Zimbabwe, defeating Chidzikwe and Mahefu...In April, lost two Davis Cup matches against Belgium, falling to C. Rochus in five sets and Vliegen in four...

Qualified into Roland Garros and won first career Grand Slam match to reach 2nd RD, defeating Ginepri and taking the first set off Coria before retiring in the third set with breathing problems...Reached 3rd RD at Wimbledon as a qualifier, posting wins over Monaco in straight sets and Garcia-Lopez in five sets losing in four sets to Grosjean...Made ATP Masters Series debut as qualifier in Cincinnati (l. to Gonzalez)...Reached 3rd RD at US Open, winning in five sets over Monfils and four sets over Ancic before falling in five to Verdasco...Qualified into AMS Paris and reached 3rd RD with wins over Hanescu and Puerta (l. to Robredo)...

2004 -- Played two Futures events in February, reaching SF at one...Won dead rubber in April Davis Cup tie against Latvia (d. Skroderis)...Won Futures title at Szolnok, Hungary (d. Tkalec)...Won first career Challenger title two weeks later in Budapest (d. Bracciali)...Qualified into first career ATP event at Umag (l. to Volandri)...Won Futures event in Beograd (d. Cipolla)...Won first career ATP match over Clement as qualifier in Bucharest to reach 2nd RD (l. to Ferrer)...Late in season, won Aachen Challenger (d. Burgsmuller)...In doubles, claimed one Futures title and reached two Challengers SF...

2003 -- Won first career Futures title in third career event in Serbia & Montenegro (d. Ferrer-Victoria)...Also reached two Futures SF for 10-5 record...

2010

Began season at Australian Open, where he was named third seed...Dropped one set en route to 4th RD (against Chiudinelli in 2nd RD), before falling to No. 10 seed Tsonga 76(8) 67(5) 16 63 61 in QFs...On 1 February, rose to a career-high No. 2 in South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings.

In February, as top seed in Rotterdam, fell to Mikhail Youzhny 76(5) 76(6) in SFs…Two weeks later in Dubai, he successfully defended an ATP World Tour title for the first time in his career as he avenged his defeat to Youzhny 75 57 63 in a rain-delayed final that was carried over to Sunday afternoon…The Serb won his 17th career title...He became the second player in tournament history (since 1993) to win back-to-back titles…"It means the whole world to me. Of course there are always people who are saying he can't do it. But I'm playing for myself, and this is another success in my career that I wasn't able to make in the last two years. But now, finally, I did it, and it's a big relief. So in the future I just hope I'll make a couple more of those."

In early March, he helped Serbia reach the Davis Cup World Group QFs for the first time, beating Querrey and Isner in a 3-2 win in Belgrade...As No. 2 seed at Indian Wells, he saved three match points in 3rd RD to beat No. 25 seed Kohlschreiber 63 26 76(3)... It was the first time he had saved match points, since October 2009 at Basel (d. Stepanek 36 76(5) 62 in SFs - saving 3 M.P)...