Srdjan Djokovic never forgot the great blow his family suffered during Novak’s upbringing
Source: MN PRESS
Srdjan Djokovic, the father of the best tennis player of all time, Novak Djokovic, openly talked about the great difficulties that the whole family went through so that Nole would have the conditions to develop as a tennis player when he was growing up. He did not shy away from talking about how he went to the greengrocer, how he got money at huge interest and what sacrifices he made so that his son could succeed.
One of those episodes refers to Slobodan Boba Živojinović, the legendary Serbian and Yugoslav tennis player, who, according to Djokovic, spoke against Novak in that period. In the Djokovic family’s attempt to secure a scholarship from the Serbian businessman Filip Center together with the coach Nikola Pilić, Živojinović’s message that Novak has a “sick heart, a heel and a father who is difficult to cooperate with” prevented that cooperation.
Đoković spoke about this in the “Business of Stories” podcast.
“I’m not going to hide it, I’ve always said that. I’ve already stopped talking about it, but when you asked me who it is, it’s our famous tennis player Slobodan Boba Živojinović.”
“Novak was in a camp with Nikola Pilić, that camp cost a lot of money at the time, several thousand marks, which we didn’t have, nor could we earn from our work. I got in touch with Cepter’s director in Belgrade, then I connected Nikola Pilić with him, Nikola scheduled a meeting with the owner of Cepter, Milan Janković, and explained to him what it was all about. Novak was then 14 years old and was already European champion in doubles, team and individual he was the champion of Europe under 14 in all categories and he explained to Milan that Novak is a great talent, that he will be a great player…”
“Milan Janković said that he will support it, even if he fails and if he succeeds, that he will support, that he will stand behind his stay at Nikola Pilić’s academy. Nikola returned to Munich, he told us that, I was overjoyed, as and my family. However, after a few days, Nikola called me and said that there was nothing to do with it, because Janković turned to Bob Živojinović, and he told him that Novak had a sick heart, a sick heel and that it was impossible for him to cooperate.”
“He told him that because Filip asked him ‘Where did you come from now, Novak, when I gave you I don’t know how many hundreds of thousands of marks or euros to build the prince club in Belgrade’. This is because he took four of the “most talented” kids in Belgrade , among whom was Novak and then he said what he said and in the next three years he made our lives hell”.
Years later, Boba Živojinović was the president of the Tennis Association of Serbia when Novak Djokovic led the national team to the Davis Cup title, the greatest achievement in the history of the Serbian national team.
One of Bob’s sentences made life hell for us! Srđan Đoković: Talked about Novak’s sick heart, difficult father…
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