1999

While still in elementary school, instead of staying in schoolyard to play with other kids, Novak was running back home to get ready for his tennis sessions. Rain, snow or holidays – nothing could have stopped him from hitting balls with his tennis coach, Jelena. At one point, when he made an enormous move forward, Jelena advised Novak’s parents: “If you want him to keep progressing, he has to leave the country”.

At that time, a difficult economic and political situation was looming over Serbia. The decision to let Novak move to Germany was difficult, but it was the only logical thing to do. As a 13-year-old boy, Novak went to Munich, to train at the academy run by renowned tennis coach Nikola Pilic.

“From the first day Novak arrived to the camp it was amazing how focused on tennis he was. I never liked predicting if someone would succeed or not, but with Novak I knew he would be the best.” – Nikola Pilic

During the next four years, Novak traveled from Serbia to Niki Pilic Tennis Academy to practice. The first year he went to Germany he stayed there for two months, then the next three months he was back at home in Serbia, and then again he went back to Germany for a month. Going back and forth as a way of living went on for some time until he started achieving great results on the court.

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