One afternoon in the summer of 1992, outside the fence of the Teniski Klub tennis training center, located next to the Kopaonik Mountains, between the border of Serbia and Kosovo, a skinny boy stood watching the players practice.

After practice, she told the boy’s parents – who own a pizza shop across from the tennis center: `You have a golden boy here. When he turns 17, he will be in the top 5 in the world.`

Djokovic (second from right) with teammates and coach Jelena Gencic.

That kid is Novak Djokovic.

But Djokovic’s talent bloomed later than Gencic predicted.

`Are you willing to invest in it?`, Gencic asked Djokovic’s parents in front of their bakery, located in the winter resort on Kopaonik mountain, where Mr. Srdjan – Djokovic’s father – worked as a ski instructor.

Djokovic then trained with Gencic for six years, in difficult conditions in Serbia.

Djokovic with coach Gencic when he first played professionally in 2003. Photo: Tennisview.

On March 8, Djokovic surpassed Roger Federer, setting a record of 311 weeks at number one in the ATP.

Djokovic left countless controversies on the way to setting this record.

`I was born to be a tennis champion,` Djokovic said in 2011, when he defeated Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray to capture a series of major titles and climb to number one in the world for the first time on July 4.

10,000 fans in Belgrade cheered when Djokovic became world number one for the first time.

Djokovic has won 59 major titles, including Grand Slam, Olympic, ATP Finals and Masters 1000, more than any other player.

In ATP history, only nine people have spent more than 100 weeks as world number one.

In 2019, Djokovic surpassed Connors and Lendl.

Djokovic still has a record of 20 Grand Slams to conquer.

There is no coincidence in that success, although Djokovic possesses great talent and was discovered early.

In Djokovic’s generation, Murray is almost no longer playing at the top level, Juan Martin del Potro has not set a return date from injury, and Stan Wawrinka is out of form.

`The number of Grand Slams and the number of weeks holding the number one position are the two biggest goals of my career,` Djokovic told ATP after the end of the 2020 season. Now, he is only behind the record of 20 Grand Slams of Nadal and