Novak Djokovic: how a kid from war-torn Belgrade beat the odds

(CNN) — Novak Djokovic was only 11 years old and sleeping in his bed at Belgrade when a burst followed by the noise of shattering glass and air raid sirens woke up him.
It is March 24, 1999, along with the air strikes the Serbian capital indicate the beginning of what is a 78-day campaign from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to try and bring to a finish atrocities perpetrated by Yugoslavia’s then-president Slobodan Milosevic’s troops from ethnic Albanians from the province of Kosovo.
Djokovic hunted for Djordje, eight-year-old Marko and his brothers, in their pitch dark apartment while Srdjan, his father, helped his mum, Dijana, who briefly lost consciousness after hitting her head against the doorway after the explosion.
„At 11, I was the big brother,“ the top-ranked Serb wrote in“Serve to triumph,“ his 2013 autobiography. „I’d been holding myself responsible for their security since NATO forces started bombing my hometown of Belgrade.“
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Remarkable journey
Two decades on, the Djokovic that is now 32-year-old is the favorite to win the US Open, which starts August 26 at New York. Such was his dominance at the last year, he’s clinched four of the previous five slams. He holds 16 personalities, two shy of Rafael Nadal of Spain, along with four behind men’s Grand Slam record holder Roger Federer of Switzerland.
His trip by war-torn Belgrade to the peak of the men’s game was nothing short of impressive.
From the introduction to his autobiography,“ Djokovic explained the way the odds were stacked against him.
„A boy , rising up in Serbia, becoming a tennis champion? It was unlikely in the best of circumstances. And it became more unlikely when the bombs began dropping,“ he also wrote.
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Bomb shelter
In the first chapter of the autobiography, titled“Backhands and Bomb Shelters,“ Djokovic vividly recalls the night that changed his life forever.
After Dijana recovered awareness, the Djokovic family strove to create their way to the apartment construction and entered the unlit streets of Belgrade.
While his parents rushed down the streets, holding his younger brothers, then Djokovic suddenly found himself fell flat on his face.
„And then it happened,“ Djokovic wrote. „Growing up from across the roof of our building came the metal grey triangle of an F-117 bomber.“
„What happened next would not leave me,“ he explained. „Even now, loud noises fill me with dread.“
The bomber dropped over his mind, which struck a hospital creating several roads away.
„I remember the sandy, dusty, metallic shell from the atmosphere, and the way the whole city seemed to shine like a mature tangerine,“ Djokovic stated in his publication.
The roads covered in light, until they all reached the concrete shelter Djokovic spotted his parents and brothers in the far space, also chased after them.
There were approximately 20 families hiding from the shelter.
„There were children crying. I didn’t stop shivering for the rest of the nighttime,“ Djokovic said in his publication.
At a 2015 interview with CNN television, Djokovic recalled the bombing effort, during which he and his family would spend each night at the shield from 8 pm, and only had power for a couple hours every day.
„Those times are surely something that I do not wish for anyone to encounter,“ he said. „Two-and-a-half months, every single night and day, bombs coming to the city. We watched airplanes flying over our minds, also literally rockets and bombs landing half a mile off.“
‚Magic youth‘
Until that dark spring night in 1999, Djokovic had loved what he predicted into his autobiography, a“magic youth.“
His dad Srdjan was a former professional skier and Djokovic first started playing tennis. No one in his family had played with the game before.
Djokovic, who’d spent large parts of his childhood in the small darkened mountain resort of Kopaonik, where his parents ran a pizza parlor, told CNN television in 2014:“It was sort of like a fate. Something happened out of the blue pill. I saw the tennis court and I watched tennis on TV when I was four. My father bought me a small tennis racket and that is when I believe all of us fell in love with the game.“
At age six, he had been seen in Kopaonik by the late Serbian coach Jelena Gencic, who had worked with Serbian-born former world No. 1 and also nine-time significant winner Monica Seles of the usa. Shortly afterwards, Gencic advised his parents Djokovic has been“the best gift I’ve seen as Monica Seles.“
The pair would work together for five years, through which her many life lessons were educated by Gencic. When he heard of her passing through the 2013 French Open djokovic was , he sacrificed his media conference.
Different perspective
It put life at a perspective, although the bombing raids could have ended his tennis career, Djokovic told CNN television in 2015.
„It gave me much more admiration for all the values that I have in my entire life,“ he said. „From golf to whatever. I know what it feels like being without anything more or less, and then being on top of the world in this popular and exact global sport on the planet. So this comparison gives me the ideal perspective in life.“
Although Djokovic said in his autobiography the constant bombing campaign, the biggest military operation in NATO background, left him feeling“helpless,“ it didn’t stop him enjoying tennis.
Djokovic stepped up his coaching sessions during the 11-week effort. He practised across Belgrade chosen by Gencic at websites for up to five hours a day, based on where the recent bombs had fallen.
From becoming paralyzed by fear something shifted Djokovic stated in his publication as the strikes continued.
„We chose to stop being afraid,“ he said. „After so much death, so much devastation, we just stopped hiding. As soon as you realize you are truly powerless, a certain sense of liberty takes over.“
No. 1
After Milosevic agreed to troop withdrawals from Kosovo that the air strikes ended.
In September of this year, the today 12-year-old Djokovic abandoned Serbia for Munich, Germany, to train in the tennis academy of Yugoslav pro Niki Pilic. He would turn pro .
In 1994the then seven-year-old Djokovic appeared on TV, presumably telling his congregation:“The aim for me is to become the world No. 1.“
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Seventeen years after, he became the first scripted participant to rise to the No. 1 position on the men’s ATP Tour after he won his first Wimbledon title.

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