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| Sometimes quite full of shit. |
A Brief Analysis of Srdjan Djokovic's 2016 Newsweek Interview:
Srdjan's early years
"I was born in a small village in Kosovo, near Trepca [a major mining complex in northern Kosovo]."
Kosovo Serbs are notorious for being backward and politically more radical than "mainland" Serbs - who are quite radical as it is.
Between the two World Wars, the English came, and built tennis courts and hotels. I didn’t have a chance to participate in tennis. This was where I finished elementary school and high school, and then we moved to Belgrade, when I was 19. We lived there until 25; that was when I met my wife, Dijana. A year after that, Novak was born."
Novak's early years:
"He was the first child; he was welcomed with a lot of love, because he was the first grandson and son. The difference between us and Western countries—when we have a child, we want to be in its life 100 percent until the end.
This is a bunch of horseshit. Recent generations of parents are just as disinterested and inactive in their kids' upbringing as anywhere else. Recent generations of children in Serbia grow up spoiled, expecting their parents to support them as far as into their 40s. Old people in Serbia often complain about being "discarded" by their children, ignored and unloved, especially once those children move out. If anything, the strength of the parent-child bond in the Balkans is fairly questionable. Just because Srdjan invested a lot into his own kids doesn't mean that's in any way representative of millions of other Serbs. That's a pretty stupid generalization based on no studies or facts, but is simply conjecture laced with deluded, subjective patriotism.
The reason Serb parents live with their offspring often well into the children's 30s and 40s is related to the perpetually poor economic conditions: their children cannot afford to buy or rent flats. It is not out of family "closeness", as is the case with Spain for example, that kids don't move out as often in many western countries.
That’s why in Serbia and the Balkans we are so connected with our children. There is some special, unconditional love we have toward each other.
So in the West people don't give a shit about their children? What are they, robots? Utter nonsense. As a general rule, Serbs are fairly low on respect or love for their parents, and quite disrespectful toward the elderly. Up until the 19th century there was even a brutal practice, conducted in certain parts of Serbia, whereby when a man reached the age of 60 (or an age when he became "useless"), his own son would walk him into the woods and kill him with a blunt object. Some love, huh?
"Special connection", my ass. Srdjan's typical anti-western Kosovar sentiment is showing itself here. Kosovars are emotionally attached to Russia, just as most Serbs elsewhere are. Serbs are Russophiles, and many of them hate the West blindly and fanatically - while nearly all of Serbia's considerable emigration is directed toward the West, almost never Russia! That's what's known as hypocrisy.
Fanatical Serbs will nag about the "decadent" West at any opportunity, blaming them often for their own shortcomings as a nation, while making plans to move their kids into a western country because Serbia offers no future to any intelligent or hard-working young person. If Novak's career hadn't worked out, where do you think Srdjan would have tried to plant his kids? In the West, of course. And yet, according to Srdjan, "westerners don't love their kids as much". It's the sort of hateful, biased, delusional drivel one gets used to hearing in these parts.
All throughout Novak’s childhood, he was the most loved. After four years came Marko, and then another four years Djordje. When Novak was 2 and a half we moved to the mountains, to Kopaonik. We opened a restaurant there [called Red Bull], and a sports equipment business. That’s where all the children grew up and learned how to live."
"He was 3 years old; we had tennis courts right in front of our restaurant [in Kopaonik]. When the courts were being built, Novak would hang out with the workers, bringing them food and drinks. He developed this connection to the courts. I saw the love in his eyes when he looked at the tennis courts, so I bought him a colorful small racket with a soft foam ball. It immediately became the most beloved toy in his life. He would rather play with it than anything else.
When Novak was 4, he went to a tennis camp in Novi Sad [a city in northern Serbia, around 70 kilometers from Belgrade]. They included Novak, and this is where he started to play. The rest is history. He hit the same backhand at 4 as he hits today. He was born for this sport. My biggest wish was for the brothers to be professional skiers, but things probably turned out better this way."
On Novak’s career plan:
Since he was 6, when he first started training, every aspect of his career has been taken care of. What he’s working on today, tomorrow, in a month and in a year. What he’s eating, drinking, today, tomorrow, when he’s going to school, what he got in a maths test, what his wishes and unfulfilled dreams are. Every aspect and every small thing in his life has been controlled. Why?
Because you're a control freak?
Just kidding.
"Many talented children don’t succeed, all around the world, because the parents are very unrealistic when it comes to their careers, lives and dreams. They decide their child is a great talent, and then put so much pressure on the child that it cannot handle it. When it grows up and learns how to live, there is chaos in the family, divorce—all the family is destroyed.
Only Novak mattered. All of us—even his family and coaches—were unimportant. Everything was made for him to achieve what he has achieved today."
That pretty much sounds like a fanatical tennis parent right there. He just got lucky that his child happened to have immense talent, otherwise he could have fallen flat on his face just like so many others who invested tons of money into tennis careers that never materialized.
Srdjan is trying to place himself in far too good of a light here, which is always cause for suspicion. Serbs have this awful tendency, a truly bad and immodest habit, to boast about their "superior" moral compass. Anyone who tries to wash himself of nearly all mistakes can't be telling the truth. Or at least big chunks of his story have to be scrutinized because fishy.
Unfortunately for all the family, Marko and Djordje did not have one percent of my enthusiasm, will and power that I gave to Novak. I am sad because of this, because Marko and Djordje could have achieved something great. The problem is Novak took all my energy; I had nothing left. I had no power left.
This is as close as he will ever come to any self-criticism. Although, by saying this, he also makes excuses for why the much-lauded careers of Novak's younger brothers never amounted to anything. A decade ago Novak's brothers were hyped to follow in Novak's footsteps. Now that it's obvious that they don't have "one percent" of Novak's potential, Srdjan is making up excuses. Fair enough: he doesn't want his kids to think of themselves as failures, which they anyway aren't.
On letting go of Novak
It was very hard. He left the house when he was 12, almost 13, to the Niki Pilic Tennis Academy near Munich. At that time we did not have the money to go with him. It’s in Oberschleissheim, about 30 kilometers from Munich. It’s where you eat tennis, drink tennis, sleep tennis, think tennis…everything is tennis.
It was an amazing experience for Novak. As a hard worker, it was perfect for him. Niki Pilic was very happy with Novak. He never normally took kids under 14, but he didn’t want Novak to leave.
On Novak’s attention to detail
One day, we were sitting together and Novak passed by 20 minutes before practice. Niki Pilic asked Novak, ‘Where are you going?’ He said, ‘I'm going to get ready for practice. I need at least 20 minutes to warm up for my practice.’
Another day Novak came to Tennis Club Partizan; there was an old man watching him. He asked him, ‘Hey kid, why do you warm up 20 minutes before the match and warm down for 20 minutes afterwards.’ He answered: ‘Each time I stretch myself after practice, I extend my tennis career by another day.’ It was most important to keep your body healthy. It’s why Novak almost never gets injured.
It's one of the reasons he doesn't get injured. The rest is all down to luck and genetics. Nobody can fully control their own destiny. That's not how the universe works.
At the Davis Cup [in 2006, when Great Britain played Serbia in Glasgow], on court there were [Ilija] Bozoljac and [Janko] Tipsarevic [two members of the Serbia team]. They were waiting for Novak. They started hitting full, full, full power after just a couple of minutes. Novak came after two minutes with his physio; they invited him to practice and he did not want to come. He ran a couple of times around the court, then after that for 15 minutes his physio stretched every muscle and joint in his body. Only after that, he went out for practice when he felt ready. Nothing is by accident.
On Novak’s relationship with Andy Murray
They played every tournament together as juniors. They never had a conflict; there was always some respect between them. Novak was always the best, but Murray was always following just behind him. Like now! I want to congratulate the Murray family for giving birth to their girl [Sophia Olivia, born on February 7]. It is amazing what Novak and Murray have done with their children and their careers. I am very glad that everything turned out well.
Amazing that they married and impregnated two women? How hard is that?
On Novak’s future and religion
I believe he will be the best tennis player in history. I have been saying it since he entered tennis.
I don't remember him ever saying that during the previous decade. He may be bullshitting us, just a tad. He can't seriously tell me he that "knew" back in 2006 that Novak was heading toward GOAT glory.
Surely he will be one of the best sportsmen ever. All of it is because he was sent from God. As a family, we tried to make God’s wish come true. He can win another 10 Grand Slams.
May I point out here that most Serbs would have declared themselves as atheists if you asked them what their religious beliefs and affiliations were back in the 80s. But as soon as nationalism reared its ugly head in the late 80s and early 90s - when communism was no longer fashionable - Serbs suddenly became full-on religious. It became a huge fad, and nobody is as "religious" in Serbia as mobsters who wear huge crosses around their thick necks. I would love to know whether Srdjan was a believer in the 80s when it wasn't hip, or whether he is just another brainwashed Commie fucktard who jumped ship once the tide started going church-wise. (Nationalism did lead to the numerous Balkan wars. Yes, nationalism and stupidity on all three sides were the causes, not foreign interference - as some paranoid, uncritical Serbs like to believe.)
On Federer, Nadal, Murray and friendships in tennis
Everyone has the right to their own opinion. This is only my opinion. When Serbia played Switzerland in Geneva [in 2006], Novak was just 19 at the time. He had a deviation of his sinuses and couldn’t breathe. He had a problem with staying in long matches and long points. And Federer tried in every possible way to disrespect him because of his breathing problem.
This is more-or-less true. Federer is well-known (among intelligent insiders at least) for using gamesmanship off the court. When Roger feels threatened by the arrival of a new talent, he will throw sarcastic jabs at his expense whenever he can, but in subtle ways so as not to be registered by his mostly unintelligent followers.
He showed himself to be the best player in the world but not as a good person at that time. Nobody has ever treated Novak like this. I don’t understand why Federer is still playing tennis. Why does he still play? He’s already 34.
He's playing for money and adoration. Srdjan knows this, but it's implied in his answer. If Srdjan would truly open up, and be as honest as he claims to be, he'd be using every curse in the book to describe Federer. There is no love lost between the Federers and the Djokovics, that much is obvious. They literally can't stand each other, these two camps. All the nice words exchanged between the two camps are pure diplomacy.
With Murray, they grew up together, they are amazing friends.
That's more than likely to be a huge exaggeration. By all accounts, Murray is much closer to Rafa.
At the moment they cannot be good friends outside of tennis, because they are rivals,
So he contradicts himself straight away? Nice one.
but once they have finished their careers they are going to be much better friends than they are today. This is for all the big players right now. [Richard] Gasquet, [Gael] Monfils, [Wilfried] Tsonga, [Juan Martin] Del Potro, [Milos] Raonic, [David] Ferrer, all these amazing athletes. Novak has a good relationship with each and every one of them. Everybody should be friends, to have respect toward each other because they know how hard it has been to get where they are.
I don't think he is far off the mark. Novak generally doesn't have major issues with other players.
Rafael Nadal has been a legend of one era, but his game is very different from Novak and Federer’s. He spends a lot of energy on court. With this kind of style, it’s very hard to maintain a high level.
10 years in a row, 2005-2014, winning at least one slam title per year says something different. It's a record Federer doesn't have a chance any longer of breaking, and one which Novak is highly unlikely to equal. Novak would have to win at least one slam per year until and including 2020 just to equal this record. Obviously, that won't happen.
But the sport of tennis still needs Nadal; he needs to come back. I hope he can play another two or three years at a high level.
How honest this is, you be the judge. He sounds like a politician at this point, like so many other celebrities or ATP-related characters. All this love directed at Murray and Nadal from an asshole such as Srdjan? I don't buy it. Just remember how much bile he threw at Rafa a few years back when Nadal was still at the top of his game.
On what Boris Becker has brought to Novak’s coaching team
He
has given him strength. [Becker joined Djokovic in December 2013.]
Becker was a different player from Novak in his career, but everything
that Novak is going through now, Becker has already been through. Becker
tells Novak about his mistakes in growing as a tennis player and
champion, and is trying to keep Novak from making those same mistakes.
For a long time, Novak didn’t know how to reduce power in matches in
order to keep energy. Now he has learned. He has enough energy to win
the match, and for the rest of the tournament.
I'd like to know how Becker could give him extra energy. It's not as if a coach can do the running instead of his player. This sounds a little dubious. Is Becker a magician then?
On how Murray can catch up
Maybe they meant "how Murray can eat ketchup", because he certainly can't catch up with Novak. He can certainly eat ketchup - that he can do any time he wants.
I don’t know if I should tell you what I think, because I have known Murray since he was a very young kid. Murray is a great, great talent. One of the biggest ever, and a big
part of it is not being used, because his mindset is not calm. He gets
frustrated very easily. When he’s winning he has booming confidence, but
once he starts losing, his mind turns around and he looks lost. He
starts talking to his box, and this distracts his mind. If he learns to
calm down, he will have a far bigger career than he has by now. I would love for Murray to achieve his potential.
At
the expense of Novak? Highly doubtful that he's being that honest.
Always question people who constantly keep bringing up how they're being honest.
When
Federer and Nadal were the best two players in the world, they took
much more out of Novak. For a couple of years, Novak was giving his best
and trying everything, changing his forehand, his serve, because he had
a goal to beat Nadal and Federer. Now Murray has to do the same. He
needs to put himself in the same position: to say, ‘OK, Novak, you are
better at this and this, I need to make myself better in this and this
in order to get there.' They make each other better.
On Novak being a Serbian icon
He is the symbol of Serbia and a god of new Serbia, but this makes me
sad. Novak is the only bright point at the end of the tunnel for Serbia
at the moment. I am very worried about the country and the people; what
is going to happen after Novak ends his career. The people of Serbia
see Novak as their idol for how to succeed. He is the living example of
how to achieve the impossible with your family around you. But there is
nothing for Serbia except him.
This
might seem a little boastful and megalomaniacal, because it is, but he
is not far off the truth here. Serbia is a nation without a future. Its
demise is just a matter of decades. Plus, Novak's status in Serbia is
huge. He is by far the most popular Serb in the country, as all polls
show. Of course, in a small country full of crooks, liars and sociopaths
this isn't much of an achievement.
On Novak’s mental strength
In 2011 when he beat Federer at the U.S. Open [in the semifinal], of
24,000 people, 23,000 were cheering for Federer. [Novak] won the match,
took the microphone and said, ‘You are the best crowd in the world.’
This is his mental strength—like granite. When they are screaming
‘Roger,’ all he thinks about is that they are screaming ‘Novak.’ When he
finishes his tennis career, he will be even more respected for his
achievements.
A Closer Look At WTA's Fascinating Strong Is Beautiful Campaign:
http://vjetropev.blogspot.rs/2013/07/42-things-you-ought-to-know-about.html
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