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Quotes about Novak
ROGER FEDERER
(September 2007)
"He is a very
complete player. The
best after myself
and Rafa. I have to
say I’m impressed
with his game,
because when I was
his age I didn’t
have such great
results."
NATALIE DESSAY,
opera singer
(September 2007)
After he sang a few
notes in the New
York Metropolitan
Opera House: "Novak
has a bad voice, but
he is a good tennis
player. Such a young
man, he could even
be my son in terms
of age, and he is so
good-spirited and
refreshing. And such a
wonderful tennis
player."
BJORN BORG
(August 2007)
"Djokovic is
definitely ready to
win a Grand Slam.
This guy can beat
any player on the
ATP Tour. He has just proved that, by beating them in the last couple of days. He is still
very young, and is
level with Federer
and Nadal."
"He is a great
player, has an
excellent game, and
can play well on any
surface. He had a brilliant run at this year’s Wimbledon, which he can repeat at the US Open, but I’m
convinced he will do
much better at Grand
Slam tournaments
next year.
RAFAEL NADAL (May
2007)
"He won Miami,
Estoril, Adelaide,
he played the final
of Indian Wells.
Novak is full of
confidence. He is a
very good player,
who will stay at the
top for a very long
time."
MARIO ANCIC
"Novak is an amazing
player whose time
has yet to come. He will have a great future, and already he is near the top. With the results he achieved in the last few months he will soon enter the top ten. He plays solid from the baseline, and is able to produce winners from any part of the court."
RICHARD KRAJICHEK
"I think that by the
end of 2007 Novak
will enter the top
five in ATP
ranking."
MARIANO PUERTA
(October 2006)
"Novak is a future
champion. Next time
he comes to Bersi he
will be inside the
top 30, I’m sure. He
is so young, and he
plays so well!"
JOHN McENROE
(September 2005)
Serbia’s best ranked
tennis player
Djokovic today
received what is
quite possibly the
greatest compliment
in his fledgling
career. Before the start of tonight’s late match at the US Open, featuring Spaniard Rafael Nadal and American Scoville Jenkins (both 19), the legendary John McEnroe, commenting for the ‘USA’ TV Network (which broadcasts matches from Flushing Meadows), talked about talented young players who, together with Nadal (currently world number two) should reach the upper echelons of the tennis world in the coming years. One of
the three names he
mentioned was the 18
year old’s from
Belgrade.
“There are
definitely several
very talented young
players such as
Monfils, Djokovic or
Murray... I expect
over the next year
or so they will be
inside the top 20
ATP players", said
McEnroe during a
live broadcast.
The oldest of the
three players
McEnroe mentioned is
Frenchman Monfils,
who turns 19 today;
Briton Andy Murray
will celebrate his
19th birthday on May
15th next year, and
Djokovic a week
later, May 22nd
2006. Monfils is currently the best ranked player (43), Djokovic is 97 and Murray is 122; despite this fact, both Djokovic and Murray are still competing at this year’s US Open Championships.
JUSTIN GIMELSTOB
"The 18 year-old
from Serbia has a
great future. He
plays an aggressive
game from any part
of the court. He
will be a force to
be reckoned with
over the next decade
or so. This will be
his breakthrough
year in terms of
winning a big title,
with maybe even
Australian Open
being his first
success, where he
qualified for the
main draw for the
for the time last
year.”
MARAT SAFIN
(January 2005)
"I wish this boy all
the best, because he
is an amazing talent
and has massive
potential!"
JELENA GENCIC
I began working with Novak Djokovic in 1994, when he was seven.
After only a couple
of months of my
coaching him, I saw
I was dealing with
an amazing and
extraordinary
talent.
As a tennis coach and expert, I workd and travelled around the world with Monica Seles, Goran Ivanisevic, Iva Majoli, Tatjana Jecmenica and Sabrina Goles and I can freely say that Novak Djokovic is the first great talent to emerge in this region since Monica Seles.
Three years ago I created a work programme for Novak Djokovic and he has already realised this five-year plan and achieved successes even beyond the expected.
Novak is totally ready, both physically and mentally, for big competitions and greater achievements.
He is very
intelligent and good
person, he thinks
clearly out on the
court and is
prepared to work
hard, which is very
important for his
future development
and career
advancement.
I sincerely believe that with the optimum training conditions and good organisation, within two to three years he could achieve marked results in professional tennis.
With regards,
Prof. Jelena Gencic
TENNIS ITALIANO
A number of talent
scouts present at
the 26th European
Championships in San
Remo had an
opportunity to fill
their notebooks.
Never before have we
been able to witness
such a pool of high
quality players,
both male and
female, with certain
competitors standing
out as extremely
impressive. Such is
the case with the
winners, 14 year-old
Yugoslav Novak
Djokovic and 13 year
–old Russian-born
Frenchwoman, Tatiana
Golovin, two early
favourites, who not
only did as
predicted, but did
so with such
confidence and
personality which
separates top
sportspeople from
the rest. It was the
first time since the
inception of the
European Under-14
Championships that
they have been won
by a Yugoslav and a
Frenchwoman whose
names will be added
on to the rich list
of famous tennis
stars (Vilander,
Edberg, Enquist,
Graff, Seles,
Hingis, Tommy
Robredo i Justin
Enan Ardenne).
As in the past we
had balance when
writing about
Robredo and Ancic,
and the Belgians
Enan and Clijsters,
so too shall we
write about the
Yugoslav, Novak
Djokovic, boy with a
‘velvety’ feel for
the ball, who can
hit the ball hard,
but above all he is
a player who is
extremely
intelligent
tactically speaking
and very string
mentally so that he
is sure to go far.
We talked about a
high technical level
which featured some
other interesting
names…and our Jari
Natali. Our
representative was
‘thrashed’ in the
semi-final by a
too-strong Novak
Djokovic.
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