This interview with Dijana i Srdjan Djokovic was immediately before the Wimbledon tournament, so before “National Nole” became world racquet number one.
But, not only because that first place was up in the air, it also seemed as the right moment to not only look back but remind everybody how one of the great champions was made (it seems that we can say that without any pathos) but also to look forward: taking into account the unhidden entrepreneurial and sports ambition of the family Djokovic, how can champions be made in the future.
To our question what is the “secret recipe” for the conditions and the atmosphere that made the champion Novak Djokovic, his mother Dijana, a graduated athlete (College of sport and physical education) answers in a motherly manner and says that the secret is “solely in love, unity and harmony that the family has been nurturing from day one”.
And father Srdjan keeps pointing out the family and team spirit, or the meaning of the unity for the individual success, which is completely in accordance with the famous “musketeer” saying: “One for all, all for one”.
The world media named Novak “The Joker”, as someone who brings luck and success. When did you realize that Novak could have such a brilliant career?
Dijana Djokovic: Novak was four years old when he first took a tennis racquet in his hands, on Kopapnik where we lived at the time. He ran around with the older people in the resort, trying to throw the ball over the net. He was eight when the watchful eye of Jelena Gencic saw him.
When Jelena, who is always restrained in her statements, said that he was the biggest talent she saw, after Monika Seleš, for us it was a sign that we need to put our trust in Novak and give him all the support our circumstances at the time allowed us.
Srdjan Djokovic: Novak started playing tennis by accident. We are a skiing family, actually. Only when he, even though very little, showed a stance and held a racquet as if it was the extension of his arm, and showed he knew how to control the ball and didn’t want to leave the court, did we give him the attention.
Dijana Djokovic: I must add that he even surprised us, his parents – with how serious, responsible and conscientious he was even in his early years, he really stood out from his peers. I think that really helped him through his entire growth and maturing, the learning about new cultures and nations, gaining new knowledge and, ultimately, in tennis too.
How much was the role of the coach important in those early years, because that is probably very important to all the parents whose children want to go into some sport?
Srđan Djokovic: The role of the coach is terribly important, especially in those first days when the child is taking its first tennis steps. The couch needs to be an educationalist firstly, a man that will with his work and behavior build a relationship with mutual confidence. The child first needs to love tennis, in order to play it properly in the future, just like Novak has done and has been doing all these years.
During his career I have always hired and fired coaches in crucial moments, or when it came to saturation. I did it swiftly and with no consideration, because only Novak and his career wer important, and everybody else were just technical staff.
At the end just because of those kind of my actions Novak has the best possible team of coaches, managers, physiotherapist, conditional coaches, nutritionist in the world of tennis. They all breathe like one and are dedicated to Novak to their maximum!
But, even with all our advice and hard work, I think that the key of Novak’s success is the clear goal, which he set when he was seven years old. Almost 150.000 viewers of YouTube saw Novak’s appearance in a children’s show when he was just seven.