Grand slam triumphs, world number one rankings, Olympic medals — Serbia, a country of just over seven million people, has defied crushing odds and financial difficulties to emerge in recent years as an unlikely tennis powerhouse.
Undeniably, the Serbian tennis rise — dubbed “Serb and Volley” by some observers — is led by Novak Djokovic.
The 27-year-old, known affectionately as Nole, is currently the world’s top seeded tennis player, a title he’s holding for the third time in the last four years. Last July, he beat Swiss supremo Roger Federer in a thrilling Wimbledon final to win his seventh grand slam title.
But it’s not just Djokovic. Over the last few years, the Balkan country has produced a string of global male and female tennis superstars — from former world number ones Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic to singles and doubles champion Nenad Zimonjic.
“I think generally we’re very talented athletes, it doesn’t matter which sport,” says Zimonjic, 38.
“In the past, we didn’t have that much success in individual sports but it turned out to be that our generation was maybe the beginning of something new — you know to have world number ones, for such a small country, it was amazing.”
The phenomenal rise of the sport’s profile has created a halo effect in Serbia, not just for its tennis talent but the whole country.
Serbia is still trying to recover from the devastation of the Balkan war in the 1990s. Since the dark days of the conflict, the country has sought to find equilibrium for an economy that was subject to years of mismanagement, suffered infrastructure damage during NATO bombings and endured extended economic sanctions.
Yet, despite the limited financial backing and crumbling facilities, Serbia’s tennis future still looks bright as a new generation of young athletes is determined to follow on the footsteps of their compatriot superstars.
“We are really strong people and I think that is what makes us so special,” says 17-year-old Ivana Jorovic, a former world junior number one.
“We need to do everything alone without any help because we are really a small country. It’s hard but in the other way it’s really nice because that makes you really strong,” she continues. “You have to do everything the best if you want to beat someone from America.”