Novak Djokovic’s Duty of Tennis and Duty to his Country: Completed
by: Sam Bunce
In his fifth Olympic Games, tennis great Novak Djokovic took to Roland Garros against rising star Carlos Alcaraz in his first opportunity for gold medal glory.
The Serb seemed hungry to put the cherry on top of his illustrious career and join the very few to achieve the career ‘golden slam’ – to win all four grand slams and an Olympic gold medal.
More significantly, despite his plethora of titles from more than two decades in professional tennis, a gold medal for his country, Serbia, was always at the forefront of his ambitions.
Following his Olympic victory, he said the gold medal “supersedes everything I’ve felt on the tennis court” and is his “biggest achievement.”
At 37 years old, he has etched his name into the tennis history books with a completed legacy, but it was always challenging.
Beginnings in Belgrade
Novak Djokovic, a prodigy in tennis like the locals had never seen before. He was a remarkable talent that so desperately needed to be nurtured, and his parents had to provide the support.
His father Srdjan and his mother Dijana were often distanced from their three sons as they undertook several business ventures to provide stability, especially for the thriving tennis career that their eldest son desired so naturally.
Novak had his sights set on his goal to be “number one” in tennis at the age of seven, something he said in an interview. With a backwards cap on, his words showed enthusiasm and clarity just after joining the nationally renowned Partizan Tennis Club. He demonstrated a humility and confidence suited for success, and everyone around him knew it too.
When asked additionally if tennis was a game or a duty, he concluded that tennis was a “duty”, which was the same for his father.
His father had to take out substantial loans and made many sacrifices that placed all faith and hope in his son. Travelling to the United States, Italy and Germany and competing in junior tours against later rivals like Andy Murray, there was an immense pressure, which Novak was perhaps unaware of, and an unrelenting willingness to compete.
NATO’s bombings of Serbia
In 1999, Serbian forces were accused of supposed ethnic cleansing in Kosovo by NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organisation – who initiated attacks on the army initially. Eventually, this escalated towards ordinary civilians, threatening ordinary communities, like where Djokovic had to reside.
This could have been the imminent catastrophe for the foundations of a promising tennis player at the age of 12. Separated from his parents was now a forced scenario as Novak would stay with his widowed grandfather, whilst 11 weeks of bombings ensued.
A cramped basement was the only choice in a suburb of Belgrade. He crammed in with Serbians, surrounded by some who were convinced by his sporting potential and prowess, but it was the apt environment for everything to come crashing down during these hardships.
Yet, the 12-year-old Serbian insisted on an independent mindset with determination and a requirement to succeed in tennis.
A significant part of this was Djokovic’s supportive coach Bogdan Obradovic, a former youth player like Novak, who shifted to an interest in tennis coaching as a late teenager. When Novak was 10, his father approached Obradovic to accelerate his son’s development.
Obradovic later led Serbia, alongside talisman Djokovic on the court, to the Davis Cup in 2010.
During the bombings, the player and coach walked into the perilous outside world of Belgrade, searching for tennis courts, since Djokovic’s “duty” of tennis would never cease to exist. It was a way to escape the even more perilous basement shelter, where he was deprived of something that would save his life and his family, tennis.
This experience would exemplify the unfazed individual he is today, and little did the Serbs know that on the front line was a diminutive Djokovic fighting for his country, out there on the tennis courts, now Serbia’s most potent sporting idol.
The road to Olympic triumph
We head to 2016, everything had been won, and the French Open had just been won. Djokovic was ready for the Olympics in Rio, going in as the number one seed.
The Olympics seemed to have been the tournament where Djokovic couldn’t find that extra gear to get over the line. Brazil showcased a scintillating hard-court matchup between Argentinian Juan Martín del Potro and the world’s most exciting tennis phenomenon, attempting to make his smaller European nation proud.
The Argentinian in Brazil won the first tie-break set and another in a shock upset. There was a humble embrace between both men at the net, but they were separated into floods of tears with starkly differing emotions.
Del Potro, who went on to achieve a silver medal, was overwhelmed and sobbing in his chair at the thought of defeating Djokovic in the first round.
Meanwhile, the Serb left the court visibly distraught and devastated. This dream, the last crown he was craving, was drifting away. There would always be a chance for redemption, but little did he know it would come at the age of 37.
Gold in the ‘City of Love’
Paris 2024, not a single set dropped in the entire tournament and it came to the final against the man who defeated him in straight sets at the most recent Wimbledon and who was poised to snatch away the perfect ‘last dance’ for the Olympics’ number one seed again.
After playing eight matches in seven days, Carlos Alcaraz seemed as fresh as his opening match, as Court Philippe-Chatrier erupted with support equally from Spanish and Serbian fans.
The first set was an unprecedented elevation in intensity and quality since their last outing, with flurries of break points scraped away from the tenacious 21-year-old, vying against a resilient Djokovic.
A tie-break followed each player’s consecutive holds of serve, whereby it was a battle of differing amounts of valuable experience.
Djokovic secured the tie-break win and went into the second set with the composure to withstand an onrushing and competitive Alcaraz, who initially sprinted out of the blocks in the opening game.
A self-coached Serbian against an increasingly agitated Spaniard, who failed to capitalise on more break points, and it came down to an impeccable second tie-break situation.
In this format, Olympic tennis matches are a best of three sets, which may have also suited the injury and discomfort in Djokovic’s right knee, which he sustained at the French Open in June.
Therefore, the 37-year-old’s proficient playing style in the closing stages positioned him nearer to this pinnacle of achievement.
A series of exhilarating and piercing grunts, in agony and or in desperation for victory, it doesn’t matter.
Ripping winners and forehands in the final rallies of the match with exceptional endurance, we witnessed a Djokovic of former times as ‘Nole’, the name written on the signs of his eager supporters, was edging towards victory with four gold medal points.
7-2 was the tie-break score, which secured a straight-set win against the second seed. His racket falls to the floor after a stunning win, yet this time it falls out of instinct, the realisation that something extraordinary had been achieved that was thought impossible in his senior years especially.
History had been made and the suffering of 2016 had been turned on its head. It was like the emotion of his first grand slam, but instead, his eyes popped wide open, he had won his country’s second gold medal of the Olympic Games, which was more prestigious than anything.
Enveloped by shock and relief, ascending into the stands, he greets his family.
Returning to the clay court surface he had so many times played on, he trembled with his hand shaking as if with the most wicked of forehands you would ever see at the upper echelons of tennis, he had finally reached the one achievement that has eluded him throughout his career.
He could now hold that medal and that same hand would clutch onto it with almighty strength, the strength resembling the child destined to elicit an unrivalled pride from his family and country and who was always adamant to fulfil a “duty.”
37 years old, 24 grand slams, 98 career titles, a record 428 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings and finally the one that mattered most, an Olympic gold medal.
But he will always want more, he is not pondering retirement, Los Angeles 2028 is still very much there to surmount.
