Djoker in the pack

From pizzeria to tennis courts: Sport runs in the family so it was no surprise when four-year old Novak Djokovic wanted a racquet to play at the tennis court that opened across the road from his parents’ pizzeria on the hillside in Belgrade. The eldest of three children born to Srdjan and Dijania, who run a restaurant for the past 15 years, Djokovic turned pro in 2003 and is now ranked No.3 in the world.His father, Srdjan, was a skier for the former Yugoslavia, but no one in his family played tennis. Also an excellent football player, it came as no surprise when he wanted his son also to pick up the sport. Luckily for us, Djokovic, who has two younger brothers, Marco and Djordje, also tennis players, fell in love with the fuzzy ball.
Shake it baby! Lovingly called Nole and even Nokia by friends and family, Djokovic has become the class clown on the men’s tour. Djokovic is known to possess a smart mouth and since he’s fluent in Serbian, German, Italian and English, a lot of words come out of that mouth. Confident and maybe even cocky at times, he loves publicity and an audience.
The Cancerian entertained peers with his imitations in the Wimbledon locker during during rain delays. During a rain break at Adelaide early this year, he volunteered to amuse the bored audience. But it was at the Rogers Cup, where Djokovic stole the show. At a fashion show featuring James Blake, Marcos Baghdatis, Jonas Bjorkman, Mark Knowles and himself, the 20-year-old paraded down the runway in skin tight pants and an open wide-collared shirt. Later, he impersonated John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever and strutted around to loud catcalls. But he saved the best for a surprise encore. After the show had ended and many people had begun to leave, he hammed it up, preening down the runway with Italian player Adriano Biasella, both dressed only in buttock-hugging underwear briefs. Just type in the words ‘Novak Djokovic’ on YouTube and you’ll find clips of him singing the Gloria Gaynor classic, ‘I will survive’ for a French television station; performing kung-fu moves for his mates in the locker room and imitating service actions of Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt.
Mr Cool: Possessing an old school look with very closely cut dark hair, Djokovic hasn’t yet fallen into the trap of owning a particular look but that hasn’t done his reputation of being a girl magnet any harm. But don’t hold your breath girls, he’s taken. The 20-year-old multi-millionaire is going steady with Jelena, back home in Belgrade and it’s not Jelena Jankovic. Nole is also pretty chummy with the butterscotch tan beauty, Ana Ivanovic but his best friends on the Tour include Mario Ancic and Andy Murray.
The football fan: Though he doesn’t play football, he’s one football crazy fan. In Estoril, in May, Djokovic was invited to the Benfica and Sporting game and was presented with an official team shirt with his name and favourite number (4) on the back, which he wore for one of the matches in Estoril.