Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic is one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. Born in 1987 in Belgrade (then Yugoslavia), Djokovic was spotted at the age of 6 by tennis legend Jelena Gencic, who foresaw a promising future for the young prodigy and coached him for six years. Despite the turmoils and upheaval hitting Belgrade during the war in the 1990s, Djokovic managed to quickly ascend to junior ranks and trained even harder to perfect his game. Aged 13, he was sent to the Pilic Academy in Munich to pursue higher levels of competition and began his international career the following year, when he became Europe’s top-ranked 14-and-under player and later the number one 16-and-under player on the Continent before turning pro in 2003. The Serbian won his first ATP Challenger tournament in May 2004 in Budapest, a victory followed by qualification for the 2005 Wimbledon tournament, where he reached the third round, breaking into the Top 100. A threat to the masters Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the young Djokovic put up a great fight and the trio’s duels gave rise to some of the most exciting matches in tennis history. He became world number 1 for the first time in 2011 and has since amassed a wealth of tournaments and titles. As for 2024, Djokovic holds a record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles and is set to compete for his country at the Paris Olympics. We spotted him just before, at a memorable evening party at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Prelude to the 2024 Olympic Games.
