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Novak Djokovic: The Nice Guy Who Finished First Paul Fein “Djokovic, will you marry me?” shouted someone from the stands during a US Open practice session. It wasn’t a young woman but a boy about 10 or 11. The good-humored Serb invited him down to the court and handed him his racket. The boy, thrilled to meet his idol, served a few balls, including an ace past Djokovic, who wasn’t holding a racket. When Djokovic high-fived and hugged the smiling boy, spectators applauded.
The heartwarming episode illustrates why Djokovic is winning fans as well as tournaments these days. Once criticized for retiring from matches and excessive ball bouncing, Djokovic, who dethroned Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to rank No. 1, is now competing with them in popularity as well. He won the 2012 Sportsman of the Year award, the top individual honor, at the prestigious Laureus Sports Awards a week after he captured the Australian Open, his fifth Grand Slam title. The 5-hour, 53-minute Australian final between Djokovic and Nadal was filled with such dazzling shot-making and brutal physicality that many compared it favorably to the 2008 Nadal-Federer Wimbledon final, considered the greatest match in history. “So incredibly, unbelievably, awesome. For me, this is as much, if not more and better quality tennis,” praised four-time major titlist Jim Courier. Just as he had done in the 2010 and 2011 US Open semifinals against Federer, Djokovic rallied from the brink of defeat to prevail against Nadal, the ultimate warrior.
A demigod in his homeland—his face is the Facebook avatar of the prime minister of Serbia—Djokovic gladly serves as its unofficial ambassador both on and off the courts. He deeply feels the tragedy of the war in the Balkans he experienced as a boy and understands how the war helped make him a champion. “I feel a need to represent my country and to allow people to see in public my story,” Djokovic said. “The [Serbian] tennis players, how we grew up, especially the generation that had to go through wars and difficult times where you didn’t have much support, didn’t have professional facilities that could accommodate you and allow you to develop yourself into a professional tennis player. Because not many countries in the world have been through what we did, what we have been through. We know how it feels to lose close ones, lose your own people in the war, touch the bottomness as a country in every aspect of life, and then stand up and be stronger, be reborn out of it.”
From such dark times come not only courage but empathy and a joie de vivre. With a $10 million fund, Djokovic’s “Clothes for Smiles” program was established in collaboration with Japanese retail giant UNIQLO to give children worldwide of all ages a chance for a better future. For his contributions through the Novak Djokovic Foundation, his role as a UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) ambassador, and other charitable ventures, Djokovic was selected as the Association of Tennis Professionals’ Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year in 2012.
Ever the showman, the Djoker charmed spectators in Beijing and Taiwan when he danced Gangnam style with the ball boys and girls. In Rio de Janeiro, he and former Brazilian star Gustavo Kuerten helped inaugurate a public tennis court in the Rocinha shantytown. They played an exhibition (Guga won 7-6, 7-5) before more than 10,000 people, and Djokovic further entertained the crowd by dancing and putting on a big wig to imitate the curly hairstyle of Kuerten. And why not court the influential media, too? At the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, Djokovic passed out chocolates to them for their “cooperation throughout the whole year.” Gracious in both victory and defeat, Djokovic praised his US Open conqueror and friend, Andy Murray, after their five-set final: “I’m disappointed to lose the match. [But] I had a great opponent today. He deserved to win this Grand Slam [event] more than anybody, because over the years he’s been a top player. I’m happy he won it.” American baseball player and manager Leo Durocher once cynically remarked: “Nice guys finish last.” Novak Djokovic disproves that every day.
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