Djokovic's emotion when recalling Jelena Gencic: "Without her, I wouldn't be Novak"

Novak Djokovic is the greatest tennis player of all time. Many aspects of his game and talent could be analyzed to explain his greatness and legacy, but above all, there is one person who was key to the development of the Serbian tennis player: Jelena Gencic. She was the first to believe in Nole when he was a child and helped him develop both tennis-wise and personally. 

With two days to go until the release of his documentary 'Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in the Winter' on Amazon Prime, the Serbian tennis player gave an interview to 'Corriere' where he became emotional when asked about Jelena. When he won Wimbledon in 2011, Djokovic starred in an iconic image by bringing the title to Gencic at her home, just two years before she passed away. "I get emotional now, as I always do when I talk about her," Novak began, who still holds her memory very close to his heart.

"Jelena passed away in 2013. She was an incredible person, and we were very close. My parents entrusted me to her when I was a young, sensitive, and very malleable child: they believed in Jelena forming me as a human being even before a tennis player. I spent countless hours with her on the court and at her home, watching black-and-white tapes of old matches. Jelena's influence on me was immense: she taught me to appreciate classical music, to visualize, to breathe in a way that was not just a mechanical act. And all of that at an age, nine or ten years old, when anything you are taught stays with you forever, explained Djokovic.

In fact, Novak revealed that "everything began with those values, along with those imparted by my mother and father. Jelena was much more than a coach: she was my spiritual guide toward a multidisciplinary and holistic way of understanding life that I would never forget. Without Jelena Gencic, I would not be Novak Djokovic. That's why going to see her at her home in Belgrade with my first Wimbledon trophy was one of the most beautiful and valuable moments of my entire career. I am grateful that she was mentioned."

Djokovic and the importance of war in shaping his personality

On the court, Novak has always been a warrior and a very passionate tennis player. This is largely due to the childhood he had, as he lived through the Balkan War first-hand, with all that it entailed. "I have always felt like a warrior, someone who never had permission to give up. Perseverance and resilience are a gift from my past and the history I have lived through. But even my physical strength comes from afar: I needed it from a young age to face circumstances that put even the adults around me in serious difficulties."

When asked about the most important moment of his life, he doesn't hesitate. "I would say my childhood. Everything that happens to us during the early years of our lives leaves a profound mark on us. We never stop growing, but during those early years, I had already lived through a war, the horror of bombs falling from the sky, nights in shelters with my family and my people, the anguish of thinking those planes could return to fly over Belgrade and bring death to my people," he stated.

Moreover, despite the harshness of what he lived through, he is grateful in a certain way. "Today I no longer look at my past with any kind of resentment or negative emotion. On the contrary, I see that stage as an essential element of the person I have become: the block on which I was built. Something necessary for my evolution and that of my family. If I could go back, I wouldn’t change anything: the war was the ingredient we needed for me to reach the wonderful life I have today. I will be eternally grateful to existence for how it has shaped me and to God for everything I have received." 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, La emoción de Djokovic al recordar a Jelena Gencic: "Sin ella yo no sería Novak"