Sports of Serbia – Serbian Tennis

Serbia Tennis Team is for the first time winner of the Davis Cup after defeating France with the score 3 : 2 on Sunday. Serbia is the 13th nation to win the Davis Cup since its inception in 1900.

“This is the most unbelievable moment of my life,” said Troicki as he reflected on the victory. And Djokovic added: “It’s historic. This is our biggest success as individuals, as a team, as a country. We are not even aware of what we have done. “This is the best moment of my career and probably of my nation. This is like winning the World Cup for us.”

Serbia has been crowned Davis Cup champion for the first time after Viktor Troicki produced a stunning display to defeat France’s Michael Llodra 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in the deciding fifth rubber in Belgrade Sunday.

Novak Djokovic Interview

Novak Djokovic is writing the history of the Serbian tennis in gold letters. Novak Đoković has laid down the foundations for a new, brighter future of the grand sport played in Serbia. When only 16 years of age Novak achieved impressive results that many older players would be envious of. Four years on, Novak has come tantalizingly close to realizing his life’s dream – he is already the world’s third best player: Novak Djokovic! When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, without hesitation he said: “number one in the world”.

The Djokovics can be said to be a family of sportsmen and women. As a boy Srdjan put on a pair of skis in Zvecan, where he lived at the time, and then went on to compete for a number of years on the white slopes. His life changed in 1984 when he finished the skiing academy and began work as an instructor in the prestigious ‘Genex’ school in Kopaonik Mountain. It was there one winter that he met a beautiful and slender ski instructor Dijana, a recent DIF graduate. People started seeing Srdjan and Dijana together on the slopes with increasing frequency. It was the shared love of the mountain and the white pistes which brought them together. Forever!
Novak was the first of three sons. He was four when he took up tennis, while living in Kopaonik. Racquet in hand, Novak would run after the older kids at summer tennis camp, attempting to get the ball over the net. This went on for a while. Novak Đoković was eight when he was spotted by the eagle-eyed Jelena Gencic. Ever reserved in her statements, this time she could not but comment: ‘This is the greatest talent I have seen since Monika Seles. In 2006 he won his first ATP tournament in the Dutch city of Amersfort, immediately after which he took another title in Metz. This meant that Novak became the youngest player inside the top 20. Djokovic also played his first ever Grand Slam quarter-final that year at Roland Garros. He finished the season ranked a brilliant 16 in the world. And then the dream year arrived. In the first week of 2007 Novak was victorious at the start of the Australian summer season in Adelaide. This was to be just the start of the incredibly successful season that followed. His first stop was the semi-final in Rotterdam, after which his career really took off and so began his rise to the very top. After losing in the final at Indian Wells, Djokovic won his first ever Master Series title at the ‘fifth Grand Slam’ in Miami. A few weeks later the Serbian tennis player won the Estoril tournament. Novak Đokovižć played in the semi-finals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and in mid-August he won the Montreal tournament beating the top three players on his way to the title: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick. At the US Open Novak made his first Grand Slam final appearance, which he lost to Roger Federer. Later that season, Novak secured Serbia’s historic place in the World group of the Davis Cup, after which he won his fifth title of 2007 in Vienna. In mid-November this amazing season was crowned with his first ever appearance at the Masters Cup in Shangai, even though he failed to reach the semi-final. Even so, Djokovic finished the year as number three in the world! In 2008 Novak took his first Grand Slam tournament – Australian Open! After it, he won three big titles: Indian Wells (Masters), Rome (Masters) and Shanghai (Masters Cup).

2009 – The Serb finished No. 3 for a third straight year highlighted by five ATP World Tour titles in a career-high 10 finals…Novak Đoković is first player to finish No. 3 for three straight years since Mats Wilander from 1985-87…Led ATP World Tour in matches played (97), matches won (78) and hard court matches won (53), all personal bests…Novak reached QFs or better in 19 of 22 tournaments, including nine of 10 after Roland Garros…Novak Đoković reached four finals in his last seven tournaments going back to mid-August in Cincinnati* and during that stretch he won 29 of 33 matches with his only losses to Federer (twice), Davydenko and Soderling…He capped off final week of regular season with title in Paris* where he defeated No. 10 Soderling in QF, No. 2 Nadal in SF and No. 16 Monfils in a third-set tie-break final…He was also runner-up in four other ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments (33-8 record in Masters 1000 events)…

In first month of action Novak Đoković advanced to SF in Sydney (l. to Nieminen) and followed with a QF at Australian Open where he retired vs. Roddick due to heat illness…He returned to action in Marseille and lost to eventual champion Tsonga in SF…He picked up his first ATP World Tour title of year on Feb. 28 in Dubai, defeating Ferrer…Then played in first round Davis Cup tie against ’08 champion Spain and lost to Ferrer and World No. 1 Nadal…Came in as defending champion in Indian Wells and lost in QF to No. 7 Roddick…Followed with runner-up in Miami* where he defeated No. 2 Federer in SF before falling to No. 4 Murray…

Novak opened clay-court campaign by reaching final in Monte-Carlo with three consecutive three-set wins before losing to Nadal in three sets…Novak continued his fine form by reaching final at Rome where he beat Federer in SF before losing to Nadal…Captured his hometown title at inaugural event in Belgrade, lucky loser Kubot to capture his second ATP World Tour title of season…Then advanced to SF in Madrid where he lost to Nadal in a record four-hour and three-minute marathon (held three match points)…At Roland Garros, suffered his earliest loss in four years as he fell to Kohlschreiber in third round…On grass, reached final in Halle, saving five match points in 2nd RD win over Serra before losing to Haas in three sets…Also lost to Haas in four sets in QF at Wimbledon…

Returned after five-week break in Montreal, where he lost to Roddick in QF…Followed with runner-up at Cincinnati, defeating Nadal in SF before losing to Federer…Continued strong play at US Open, reaching SF (or better) for third straight year, falling to Federer for third time…Returned in October and captured title in Beijing (d. Cilic) and followed with SF at Shanghai (l. to Davydenko…In November, Novak won back-to-back titles in Basel (d. Federer) and Paris (d. Monfils)…In his SF win in Basel over Stepanek he saved three match points…Closed season by winning two of three round-robin matches at Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London (d. Davydenko, Nadal, l. to Soderling)…He compiled a 15-12 record vs. Top 10 opponents during season, winning seven of past nine since US Open…Also had a 15-2 record indoors and was 53-11 on hard, 17-6 on clay and 8-2 on grass.

2008 — The young Serb finished No. 3 for a second straight season…The last player to do that was Pete Sampras in 1999-2000…Captured four titles in six finals, winning Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai as well as his first Grand Slam crown at Australian Open (d. Federer in SF, Tsonga in F)…Only dropped one set during fortnight in Melbourne, that coming in final…In March, Novak reached SF in Dubai (l. to Roddick) and followed with title at AMS Indian Wells (d. Nadal in SF, Fish in F)…

After a 17-4 start in first three months, played well on clay (16-3) with SF at AMS Monte Carlo (ret. to Federer), won title at AMS Rome (d. Wawrinka) and reached SF at AMS Hamburg and Roland Garros (l. to Nadal both times)…Had chance to move to No. 2 in last two tournaments with a win over Nadal…On grass, advanced to final at Queen’s, losing to Nadal again, before losing in 2nd RD at Wimbledon to Safin…During summer hard court circuit, reached QF at AMS Toronto, final at AMS Cincinnati (l. to Murray both times), won bronze medal at Beijing Olympics (d. Blake) and advanced to SF at US Open (l. to Federer)…

Then helped his country back into ’09 Davis Cup World Group with playoff win over Slovak Republic before reaching Bangkok final (l. to Tsonga)…In final two AMS tournaments, reached 3rd RD in Madrid (l. to Karlovic) and Paris (l. to Tsonga)…Qualified for second straight Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, defeating Davydenko for the title…Compiled records of 43-12 on hard, 16-3 on clay and 5-2 on grass…Earned a career-high $5.6 million.

2007 — Finished as youngest player in Top 10 and compiled his best season by capturing a personal-high five ATP titles while reaching his first Grand Slam final…Also led his country into 2008 Davis Cup World Group by defeating Australia in a playoff tie…Compiled a 19-4 record in Grand Slam play (losing to Federer and Nadal twice each) and 24-7 mark in ATP Masters Series tournaments…Began season by earning his first title Down Under in Adelaide (d. Guccione) and followed with 4th RD at Australian Open (l. to Federer)…In March, Novak reached his first AMS final in Indian Wells (l. to Nadal) and followed with title in Miami without dropping a set (d. Nadal in QF, Murray in SF, Canas in F)…Held serve 58 of 59 games throughout and afterwards went from 10 to No. 7 on Apr. 2…

On clay, picked up title in Estoril (d. Robredo in SF, Gasquet in F) and followed with QF in AMS Rome (l. to Nadal) and Hamburg (l. to Moya) and SF at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal)…On grass, continued success at Wimbledon where he advanced to SF (ret. vs. Nadal with toe blister)… Compiled an 8-2 tie-break mark in six matches…In August, Novak collected his second ATP Masters Series shield in Montreal where he posted wins over No. 3 Roddick (QF), No. 2 Nadal (SF) and No. 1 Federer (F) to become first player to defeat World’s Top 3 since Boris Becker in October 1994 in Stockholm…Novak Đoković also became first player to beat Federer and Nadal in same tournament while they were ranked No. 1 and 2…

Made his third appearance at US Open and advanced to his first Slam final, getting past Stepanek in a four hour, 41 minute five-set marathon in 2nd RD before not dropping a set in wins over Moya (QF) and Ferrer (SF)…In title match against Federer, had five first set points and two more in second set before losing each in a tie-break….After a short break, led his country into ’08 Davis Cup World Group by posting straight-set wins over Australia’s Peter Luczak and Chris Guccione…In October, collected his fifth title in Vienna (d. Wawrinka) and followed with SF at AMS Madrid (l. to Nalbandian)… Lost in opening round only three times in 21 tournaments during year…

Qualified for his first Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and went 0-3 in round robin play…Also posted a 30-13 tie-break record, one of Top 5 marks on ATP circuit…Went 6-10 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 43-12 on hard (second most wins behind Federer’s 44), 18-5 on clay and 6-2 on grass…Fired a career-high 518 aces to rank No. 6 in Ricoh ATP MatchFacts.

2006 — Captured two ATP titles in three finals and finished as youngest player in year-end Top 20…Also made breakthrough in Grand Slam play with a QF at Roland Garros…After 1st RD exit at Australian Open (l. to Goldstein), reached SF in Zagreb (l. to Ljubicic) and QF in Rotterdam (l. to Stepanek) in February, falling to eventual champions in both…Went 2-5 in ATP tournaments the next three months before turning around season at Roland Garros, compiling a 17-4 record in next five tournaments…Reached first career Grand Slam QF (ret. vs. Nadal) in Paris, then advanced to 4th RD on grass at Wimbledon (l. to Ancic)…In next tournament, won Amersfoort title in first ATP final (d. Massu)…Took a nine-match winning streak into his second consecutive ATP final appearance following week in Umag, retiring with respiratory problems, up 3-1 in first-set tie-break against Wawrinka…

Returned to hard courts and reached 3rd RD at US Open (l. to Hewitt)…Went 5-1 in Davis Cup play during year, losing only to Federer in World Group playoff tie in September…Followed with his second ATP title in Metz (d. Melzer) and advanced to his first ATP Masters Series QF in Madrid with wins over Gasquet and Murray (l. to Gonzalez)…Compiled marks of 17-9 on hard, 14-5 on clay, 5-2 on carpet and 4-2 on grass…Also led ATP circuit with a 19-5 tie-break record (best pct.)…Went 2-7 vs. Top 10 opponents, defeating No. 9 Gonzalez at Roland Garros and No. 8 Robredo at Wimbledon…

2005 — Novak Djokovic – The No. 1 player from Serbia finished as youngest player in Top 100 at 18 years, 5 months…Opened the season by making his Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at the Australian Open (l. to Safin)…In March, won a pair of Davis Cup matches against Zimbabwe, defeating Chidzikwe and Mahefu…In April, lost two Davis Cup matches against Belgium, falling to C. Rochus in five sets and Vliegen in four…

Qualified into Roland Garros and won first career Grand Slam match to reach 2nd RD, defeating Ginepri and taking the first set off Coria before retiring in the third set with breathing problems… Reached 3rd RD at Wimbledon as a qualifier, posting wins over Monaco in straight sets and Garcia-Lopez in five sets losing in four sets to Grosjean… Novak made ATP Masters Series debut as qualifier in Cincinnati (l. to Gonzalez)…Novak reached 3rd RD at US Open, winning in five sets over Monfils and four sets over Ancic before falling in five to Verdasco…Novak Djokovic qualified into AMS Paris and reached 3rd RD with wins over Hanescu and Puerta (l. to Robredo)…

2004 — Played two Futures events in February, reaching SF at one…Won dead rubber in April Davis Cup tie against Latvia (d. Skroderis)…Won Futures title at Szolnok, Hungary (d. Tkalec)…Won first career Challenger title two weeks later in Budapest (d. Bracciali)…Qualified into first career ATP event at Umag (l. to Volandri)…Won Futures event in Beograd (d. Cipolla)…Won first career ATP match over Clement as qualifier in Bucharest to reach 2nd RD (l. to Ferrer)…Late in season, won Aachen Challenger (d. Burgsmuller)…In doubles, claimed one Futures title and reached two Challengers SF…

2003 — Novak Djokovic won first career Futures title in third career event in Serbia & Montenegro (d. Ferrer-Victoria)…Also reached two Futures SF for 10-5 record…

Novak opened 2009 in Brisbane, where he was defeated in the opening round by Ernests Gulbis. Noone could have thought that this will be the most successful season in his career so far. Novak participated in ten finals, and lifted the winner’s trophy in five cities: Dubai, Beijing, Basel, Paris. However, Novak’s certainly most cherished title is the one he won in his hometown, Belgrade, where the first ever ATP tournament in Serbia was held in May. Djokovic was runner-up in Cincinnati, Rome, Monte Carlo, Miami (all ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments) and Halle. He finished the year as world no.3. “Djokovic is definitely not satisfied to be number three or four,” states Pilic. “He wants to be number one. His dream was always to be the best.” For many it is no longer a question of if, but when will Djokovic become World No. 1. Somewhere in Serbia, or maybe Munich, there will be an old coach who says, “I told you so.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNmkWRvYYhg

Novak Djokovic Funny Moments Hopman Cup 2013

Viktor Troicki

Viktor Troicki began playing tennis at age five with countryman Nenad Trifunovic as his coach…Nicknamed Vik…Viktor Troicki speaks Serbian and English…Inspired by Andre Agassi who was his childhood idol…Parents are Aleksandar, a lawyer; and Mila, an economist…Lived and practiced in Boca Raton, Florida from age 13-15.. Viktor Troicki enjoys all sports and when he was younger he used to play soccer and wasn’t sure whether he would continue with tennis since soccer was his favorite sport…Fan of Partisan Belgrade team…Favorite shot is serve and considers hard courts his favorite surface…Has a 6-2 career Davis Cup record (4-2 in singles) in four ties…Coached by Jan de Witt (since 2005), who also works with Marco Chiudinelli. Went 8-6 through first two months of the year, highlighted by Doha SF exit (l. to Nadal) and run to Zagreb QFs (l. to Berrer)…Made an Australian Open 2nd RD exit (l. to F. Mayer)…In March, helped Serbia reach the Davis Cup QF with 3-2 win over United States in Belgrade…Beat John Isner in four sets…As No. 29 seed in Indian Wells, reached the 4th RD before losing to No. 19 seed Berdych 61 63… It equalled his best ATP World Tour Masters 1000 performance (2009-Miami)…As No. 30 seed in Miami, he fell to wild card Nalbandian 63 46 64 in 2nd RD…

Compiled a 7-6 record during the spring European clay swing through Roland Garros, where he reached the 3rd RD (l. to Youzhny)…Advanced to Belgrade QFs (l. to Wawrinka) in May and represented Serbia at ARAG ATP World Team Championships in Dusseldorf…In doubles play, partnered Granollers to ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid SFs (l. to Bryan-Bryan)…

In three grass-court tournaments, went 2-3 and as World No. 42 made a 2nd RD exit at Wimbledon (l. to Melzer)…Went on to help Serbia reach its first Davis Cup World Group SF with victory over Croatia…

At New Haven in August, reached his first ATP World Tour SF since October 2009 (at Bangkok)…Beat World No. 30 Stepanek in QFs before losing to Istomin in SFs…As World No. 47 at the US Open fell to good friend and third seed Djokovic 63 36 26 75 63 in 1st RD…

In September, Viktor Troicki represented Serbia in Davis Cup World Group SF versus Czech Republic in Belgrade…

Began Asian swing with second-round exit in Bangkok (l. to Nieminen) before advancing to the Tokyo semi-finals, where he squandered two match points in a third-set tie-break against World No. 1 Rafael Nadal…”It is frustrating, even if I won the second round here after being match point down,” said Troicki. “I still think it was a great match from both of us.”

Two weeks later the Serbian won his first ATP World Tour title in Moscow, defeating No. 4 seed Marcos Baghdatis 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final…He was the fourth first-time winner on the ATP World Tour this season… “It feels really great to win my first (ATP World Tour) title; there are no words to describe what is going through my mind. I would say it is the biggest day of my career.” Afterwards rose 10 place to No. 33 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings…

In doubles he partnered Marcel Granollers to reach the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid (l. to Bryans)…In October he and Christopher Kas teamed to win the Bangkok title, defeating Jonathan Erlich and Jurgen Melzer…It was the Serbian’s first doubles title… “It was a difficult match, especially at the end, I was choking a bit and luckily my partner helped us out. This is my first doubles title and it feels great.” The following month, he teamed up with fellow Serbian Janko Tipsarevic to finish runner-up in Moscow (l. to Kunitsyn-Tursunov)…

2009 — The young Serb had a breakthrough season with personal-best 32 match wins and reaching his second career ATP World Tour final in Bangkok (l. to Simon) in October…In January advanced to QF in Auckland (l. to eventual champion del Potro) and following month reached SF in Zagreb (l. to Cilic) and followed with a title run at Belgrade Challenger (d. Hrbaty)…Went on to reach 3rd RD at first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Indian Wells (l. to Nalbandian) and 4th RD in Miami* (d. Nalbandian, l. to eventual champion Murray)…Helped Serbia claim ARAG World Team Championships, winning six of his eight matches (singles and doubles)…Advanced to QF in Hamburg before struggling with a foot injury next two months…Helped Serbia to defeat Uzbekistan in Davis Cup play-offs…Went 1-9 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 21-17 on hard, 9-10 on clay and 2-2 on grass…Earned a career-high $772,781.

2008 — The Serb finished in Top 100 for first time highlighted by a career-high 21 match wins, 16 more from previous season…Reached his first ATP final and QF in three other tournaments…In Challenger play, compiled a 16-7 mark and reached Bermuda final (l. to Nishikori) and SF in four other events…Qualified into his first Grand Slam at Australian Open and lost to Nadal in 1st RD…Following month, played in Davis Cup 1st RD tie vs. Russia, losing to No. 4 Davydenko in five sets and beating Tursunov in dead rubber…In June, reached QF in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Canas) and won first Grand Slam match at Wimbledon (d. Lapentti, l. to Stepanek in five sets)…In August in Washington, posted second career Top 10 win over No. 9 Roddick in QF before losing to del Potro in final… Afterward, improved from No. 93 to No. 71…At US Open, lost to No. 1 Nadal in 3rd RD, his best Grand Slam result…Closed season with QF showings in Tokyo (l. to Roddick) and Moscow (l. to Zverev)…Went 1-7 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 16-13 on hard, 4-3 on grass and 1-4 on clay…Earned a career-high $399,859.

2007 — Finished in Top 130 highlighted by his first ATP SF…Compiled a 20-14 record in Challenger play with one runner-up showing and went 5-7 in ATP competition…Opened year with SF at Bergamo (l. to Bolelli) and two months later reached same round in Marrakech (l. to El Aynaoui)…In June, advanced to back-to-back QF in Bytom and Milan Challengers…One month later, surprised countryman and No. 3 Djokovic in 2nd RD in Umag en route to SF (l. to Pavel)…In September, reached SF at Donetsk Challenger (l. to D. Norman) and followed with 2nd RD showings in Beijing (d. Gabashvili, l. to No. 12 Ljubicic) and Mumbai (d. Qureshi, l. to Schuettler)…Closed season with runner-up at Busan Challenger (l. to I. Minar).

Janko Tipsarević

Janko Tipsarević began playing at age six and at age eight in April 1993, began playing at “AS” New Belgrade Tennis Club with Russian coach Roman Savochkin, who still works with him…Father, Pavel, is a professor; mother, Vesna, is a housewife…His grandmother keeps a journal on her grandson…Janko Tipsarević has a younger brother (by two years), Veljko, who is a college student…Janko Tipsarević speaks Serbian, English and Russian…Finished high school and in 2006 completed university work in Belgrade, studying Sports Management…Enjoys snowboarding, house music and reading psychiatry books of Nietzsche and Dostojevski…Has a tattoo on his left arm with inscription “Beauty will save the world” from Dostojevski…Idols growing up were Agassi and Kafelnikov…Prefers playing on slow hard courts and clay…Compiled an outstanding junior career by finishing No. 2 in world junior rankings in 2001…Captured Australian Open juniors (d. Wang) and reached QF at Roland Garros juniors…Compiled an 8-3 career mark in ITF junior finals between 1999-2001…

Janko Tipsarević married TV host Biljana Sesevic on 4 July 2010 in Belgrade…Guests included Novak Djokovic, Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki…

Going into 2010 has a 28-11 career Davis Cup record (22-10 in singles) in 24 ties…Coached by German Dirk Hordorff (since Metz in Sept. 2009), physio is Mark Boada and fitness trainer is Bernado Carborel.

Began season at Chennai, reaching the SFs (l. to Cilic)…Fell in Australian Open 2nd RD to Haas 46 64 63 16 63…Went 2-3 in February, including first round exits at Zagreb and Rotterdam and a QF run (l. to Youzhny) in Dubai…

Went five tournaments without a win until June at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, when he reached final (l. to Stakhovsky)…Both players dined out together twice during week…

Suffered a 1st RD loss at Atlanta (l. to Anderson) in his opening tournament of the Olympus US Open Series…Bounced back the following week in Los Angeles by defeating Baghdatis to reach the SFs (l. to Querrey)…Avenged the loss with 2nd RD win over Querrey in Washington en route to the QFs (l. to Cilic)…

Sustained right ankle injury in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Toronto 1st RD vs Kohlschreiber…Did not play another event until US Open, when he beat No. 9 seed Roddick in 2nd RD…It was his third Top 10 win at a Grand Slam tournament and the eighth of his career (8-20)…Roddick was his first Top 10 opponent he’s beaten twice (also 2008 Wimbledon 2nd RD)…Lost to World No. 19 Monfils in 3rd RD…

Represented Serbia in Davis Cup World Group ties against United States, Croatia and Czech Republic…In SFs, beat both Berdych and Stepanek to give Serbia a 3-2 win in Belgrade…

In doubles play, advanced to Chennai final (w/Lu) in January…Reached QFs at Dubai (w/Troicki), Atlanta (w/Erlich) and Los Angeles (w/F. Lopez)…Made a 3rd RD exit at Wimbledon (w/Lu)…

On ATP Challenger Tour, reached Belgrade SFs in February…

2009 — A strong late season run enabled Belgrade native to finish in Top 50 for second straight year…Put together an 11-4 mark after US Open, highlighted by his first ATP World Tour final in Moscow (l. to Youzhny) and SF in Vienna (l. to Melzer) and QF in Metz (l. to Monfils)…Also won Mons Challenger in Belgium (d. Stakhovsky) in October…In May went undefeated (3-0) at ARAG ATP World Team Championship in Düsseldorf to help Serbia claim title…Best Grand Slam result was 3rd RD at Roland Garros (d. Montanes, F. Lopez, l. to Murray)…Won a personal-best 30 matches and compiled marks of 18-12 on hard, 9-10 on clay and 3-3 on grass…Went 1-5 vs. Top 10 opponents with win over No. 10 Monfils in Monte Carlo…Earned a career-high $661,031.

2008 — The Serbian No. 2 (behind No. 3 Djokovic) finished in Top 50 for first time highlighted by four ATP QF showings and a personal-best 26 match wins…Opened season with 3rd RD at Australian Open where he lost to Federer 10-8 in fifth set in a 4:27 battle. In February, advanced to QF in Zagreb (l. to Stakhovsky) and following month reached his first AMS QF in Miami (d. No. 11 Youzhny, l. to Davydenko). At Wimbledon, beat No. 6 Roddick in 2nd RD en route to 4th RD (l. to Schuettler) for second straight year. After helping his country qualify into ’09 Davis Cup World Group (d. Slovakia), finished season with QF in Metz and St. Petersburg. Went a personal-best 4-5 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled records of 17-14 on hard, 5-2 on grass and 4-5 on clay. Earned a career-high $573,081.

2007 — Finished in Top 75 and reached 3rd RD at AMS Indian Wells with wins over Srichaphan and No. 20 Hewitt (l. to Ferrer)…In May, captured Zagreb Challenger title (d. Silva) and followed with 3rd RD at Roland Garros…On grass, reached 2nd RD at Queen’s, QF at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and 4th RD at Wimbledon with three straight five-set wins (d. No. 6 Gonzalez in 3rd RD, l. to Ferrero)…At US Open, retired in 2nd RD to Nadal with right rib muscle injury…In October, advanced to his first ATP SF in Moscow.

2006 — No. 2 player from Serbia (behind Djokovic) finished in Top 100 for first time…Compiled Challenger record of 31-8 and four titles, winning in Belgrade (d. Cakl) in February, back-to-back in Samarkand (d. Roger-Vasselin) and Bukhara (d. Bopanna) in August and Mons (d. Bogdanovic) in October…Also a finalist on clay in Dresden (l. to Greul)…In ATP competition, advanced to QF in Nottingham and Moscow…

2005 — Made his Australian Open debut and reached 2nd RD…Posted 3rd RD at Wimbledon with wins over Haas and Lu (l. to T. Johansson)…Went 4-0 in Davis Cup play…In doubles, claimed Napoli Challenger title (w/Vanek)…

2004 — As a qualifier, made debuts at Roland Garros and Wimbledon…Played Davis Cup for first time for Serbia & Montenegro and went 4-2… Won Challenger titles in Ostrava (d. Luczak) and Belo Horizonte (d. Mello)…Also reached three Challenger finals while compiling a 35-21 record…In doubles, won two Challenger titles…

2003 — Made ATP debut at Indianapolis and reached 2nd RD…Made US Open debut as qualifier (l. to Philippoussis) …Won Challenger titles in Zell and Torrance…In doubles, reached two Challenger finals…

2002 — Won two Futures titles and reached two other finals… Doubles finalist at Bukhara Challenger (w/Winzierl)…

2001 — Made Davis Cup debut for Yugoslavia, winning all three points vs. Poland…Won first Futures title at Yugoslavia #2 (d. Ramirez Hidalgo) and reached final at Yugoslavia #3 (l. to Ramirez Hidalgo)…

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