FROM MELBOURNE TO PARIS LONDON TO NEW YORK
NOVAK DJOKOVIC PIMP POST LADIES AND GENTS
Part 1: The Part Where Wikipedia Is Copypasted.
Click to viewHere we have baby Nole’s first television interview. Awwwww, he looks exactly the same.
Novak Djokovic (Serbian: Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković), pronounced [ˈnɔvɑk ˈdʑɔːkɔvitɕ] (born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player, who is currently ranked the World No. 3 2. He is often called by his nickname, Nole, pronounced No-lay.
He has won one Grand Slam singles title, the 2008 Australian Open, becoming the first player representing Serbia to win a Grand Slam singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events. He was also the runner-up at the 2007 US Open and a bronze medallist representing Serbia at the 2008 Olympic Games. In addition, Djokovic won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008 and has won five Masters Series tournaments.
Novak Djokovic was born in Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia to Srđan, a Montenegrin, and Dijana, a Croat. His two younger brothers, Djordje and Marko, are also tennis players with professional aspirations. Since the end of 2005 Novak has been dating Jelena Ristic (former schoolmate).
He started playing tennis at the age of four, and was spotted by Yugoslav tennis legend Jelena Genčić at the age of eight, who stated: "This is the greatest talent I have seen since Monica Seles." At 12 years old, he spent three months at Nikola Pilić's tennis academy in Munich, Germany, and at age 14, his international career began, winning European championships in singles, doubles, and team competition. He currently resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco and has been coached by a former Slovak tennis player, Marián Vajda; in August 2009 he also began working with former US top-five player Todd Martin.
Relevant stats: Nole has 17 career titles, and has been ranked as high as no.2. He’s reached the semifinal of all four Grand Slams, won the Australian, and appeared in the 2007 US Open final (where I proceeded to fall in love with him). He also has a bronze medal from the Beijing Olympics.
Part 2: Nole’s Mad Skills
Why we should like him as a player?
This is a tennis lesson from Nole from Time Magazine’s site. He is a fabulous teacher. And he’s got some mad skills. He’s basically an all-around player-his tennis is best on hard courts, but he adapts fairly easily to all surfaces, demonstrated by how he’s reached the semifinals at every slam. He has a badass forehand and a love of drop shots, which sometimes lands him in trouble when they…don’t go over the net.
In comparison to the other big two, Federer and Nadal, Nole shows a lot more emotion on court. He’s known for bouncing the ball a lot before he serves, and the more he bounces it, the more important the point is to him. He yells, he flails his hands around, he shrugs, he beats his chest. It makes him both thrilling and exhausting to watch, because the emotions you see him express, you start to feel yourself. Sometimes Nole does get caught up in his own emotions (hence the occasional choke) but I think he’s slowly getting better. As I’ll elaborate later, Nole has gotten more and more mature on and off court as I’ve begun to follow him.
And if his lovely play doesn’t get you, keep this in mind-when Nole wins, Nole takes his shirt off.
Part 3: Off-Court Behavior
For a while, people following the men’s game talked the most about Federer-Nadal-Djokovic as the forces to be reckoned with (Now it’s them plus Andy Murray), and Nole was pegged as being incredibly different from the other two. And he is, in some ways. Roger and Rafa are known for being mild-mannered, classy, and, in general, not very controversial. Nole, on the other hand, is loud, funny, sometimes outspoken, and not afraid to speak his mind no matter what the issue. I love Roger and Rafa and wouldn’t change anything about them, but I love Nole for being their opposite.
I’m not gonna lie, Nole has said some incredibly stupid stuff-his parents haven’t said the smartest things either. The American press isn’t terribly fond of him (Although except for Jon Wertheim, the American press doesn’t love anyone that isn’t American), and neither is my grandmother. In fact, the reason I joined this comm in the first place is to get away from the negativity about Nole and, to a lesser extent, Roger in the mainstream press. I won’t defend the stuff he’s said in the past, but in recent times he’s definitely learned to bite his tongue. I can’t say I’m not proud /sniff
this is the best English television interview I’ve seen of Nole, given this year at Wimbledon. A few years ago, he wouldn’t have been this calm or well-spoken. So proud, so proud /sniff
A big part of Nole’s public persona are his impersonations.
This is him dressed up as Andy Roddick. Note the giant Lacoste logos.
Nole imitating various players in his sexy 2007 US Open shirt.
There are countless videos of these (there’s an excellent video of him impersonating Nalbandian just by puffing out his chest LOL). Don’t worry, it hasn’t gotten him in too much trouble.
Other than the impersonations, Nole is quite hilarious and has no shame whatsoever. He’s totally okay with making a fool of himself on camera, which he does frequently.
This is the infamous ATP “Twelve Days Of Christmas” video. Nole has absolutely no idea what he’s doing, and instead decides to wear a Santa beard and have a jolly old time.
baby!nole shaking his thanggg and showing that he’s a born performer.
Nole attempting to salsa dance. According to an_ljubic, he’s pretty bad but okay for a beginner 8)
French Open karaoke: Nole sings “I Will Survive” and rips off his shirt.
French Open karaoke, part two: Nole sings “Gypsy” and dresses up like Shakira.
Starts at about 3:09, Nole embarrasses his childhood friend Ana Ivanovic and is taunted about his fanservice.
Nole dances with his girlfriend. …yeah. I know.
Nole does thriller.
Nole plays against John McEnroe at the US Open.
Nole’s thoughts on shade: like sleeping with his girlfriend.
Don’t ask Nole to do a tweener shot, okay. He has something else between his legs. That blonde woman they show trying to curl up and die? That’s his mom.
oh, Spanish television.
Nole attempts to speak Spanish, laughs a lot, and looks cute in purple. Comparing this interview to the one earlier, it’s clear how much more well-spoken he’s become.
I can't EVEN.
Novak Djokovic and meat: A love affair.
Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, and Golf: A troubled love affair.
LOL YES, Nole is a rapper. He has a song with Ivo Karlovic and the infamous “Autograph” with the Bryan Brothers and Andy Murray. Also the way he says “rapping” is so adorable.
the following video that gives a really great look at nole has embing disabled, but you can view it in two parts here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4KiVqzN7es&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpPulERXgsE&feature=related
Part 4: Nole and his BFFs
this is written by an_ljubic, who is a god among us and knows way more about Nole’s friends than I could ever hope to know.
Novak is really friendly, and that’s a fact. You can usually see him flirting having a good time with his fellow serbs, Rafa and Muzz, or ~fighting over a pair of socks with Gillou. Even Roger, who wasn’t very fond on him because of the impersonations, ended up asking Nole what to do when the Queen came to Wimbledon (I think Nole didn’t know either, but they both handled the situation pretty well). They really respect each other and talk football sometimes.
Viktor Troicki is his best friend on tour. I still remember Nole’s gf Jelena tweeted something about him being the ~third weel of their relationship lol (her twitter was so cute!). I’m pretty sure you all watched that Gypsy video but it’s a solid evidence of their camaraderie so I’ll leave you with that :P
Muzz has been an important part of Nole’s life =) …lol ok ok jk, but they’ve known each other for quite long. At the AO 06, they played doubles together and lost, but Mandy’s hair is still the cure for depression. There are ups and downs, and I think these guys have had low points in their relationship but they get along pretty well. Plus, it seems like they practice together. A lot.
RAFAOLE WOO
Gillou ♥ Watching two of my favorite players get along that well makes me happy =) Too bad the video won’t embed, but Nole thinks Gillou looks like Edward Cullen (and according to him is quite an honor). And here’s the ~sock fight video
While Delpo was fulfilling his duty as the official Boca Ambassador, I think he gave Nole a Boca shirt (Roger and Rafa got one too but none for Muzz). Then, I’d say he’s friends with Mario Ancic too ‘cause they live next door in Monte Carlo and practice together quite often (or practiced, since Mario isn’t at his best =/). Gael used to be closer to Nole when they were juniors. Finally, Marat likes hanging out with him =) (and who wouldn’t).
Part 5: Nole and Serbia
This part will probably bore you all to tears, but I think it’s important to mention. Serbia’s a very politically...troubled country right now so it’s hard to separate Nole from his place of birth. I won’t go into detail about the history behind the current situation in the Balkan peninsula, but if you guys have any questions about the matter feel free to ask me. I myself am not from there, but I did a research project on the area throughout the 20th century so I have some understanding of the situation.
Nole (and to a lesser extent, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic) are a big source of pride for Serbian people. They send out an image of Serbia to the world that isn’t based on shady politicians or the murderers of the 1990s. As a taxi driver told Nole’s inteviewer for Men’s Vogue, Nole has done more for Serbia’s image than any politician. He has a hand in running the Djokovic Open Serbia Open, and his parents have a charity for children.
Kosovo’s secession is a touchy subject for him, because he has family there, and, to be honest, it’s a touchy subject for all Serbs. I can’t think of a proper analogy that demonstrates how culturally significant Kosovo is-the closest thing, I think, are the thirteen colonies, but even then we Americans don’t consider those anywhere near as important as they do Kosovo. The 2008 protests in Belgrade were violent, but the video he recorded for the protest was nonviolent, and he wasn’t present.
One of the biggest political issues in Serbia today is whether to remain an ally of Russia, or to apply for EU membership. Nole, like the current Serbian president, supports joining the EU, which in my opinion is the better option. That said, joining the EU won’t be an easy process. Nole considers the other South Slav ethnicities his equals, and even his brothers. He was once mistakenly called a Croat at a tournament, and although he corrected the announcer, he said something to the effect of “it’s okay, we’re all the same”. He’s also done some peaceful stunts with Croat players on tour, such as exchanging shirts. It’s a very innocent way of looking at it, because the South Slavs are quite culturally different from one another, but it shows that unlike the ethnic cleansers of the 1990s, Nole doesn’t consider himself above them. Props, bb, props.
Part 6: Further Reading and Delicious Pictures and Videos
http://www.menstennisblog.info/2008/04/novak-djokovic-in-mens-vogue-and-gq.html
This article pretty much sealed my love for him. It appeared in Men’s Vogue (let’s shed a tear for the fallen site) shortly after his Australian Open and talks about a) how awesome Nole is and b) his impact on his homeland. It’s quite a good read and includes sexy pictures.
also: feel free to add pictures or videos in the comments! I'm very aware that I'm missing some great ones.
not in english, but still fabulous.
NOLE TYFYT
a big thanks to an_ljubic and sapphirespells for helping me with this :DDDDDD