In the story of how she discovered Novak, Jelena Genčić says that it was at a tennis camp on Kopaonik. "I was working with the children on the fields and saw a boy hanging on the fence around the field and watching what we were doing." There were three courts next to each other and I noticed that the boy was circling and listening to what I was explaining to the players. In the end, I approached him and asked him if he knew what sport it was, and he told me that it was tennis. He also told me that he already held the racket in his hands. I asked him if he would like to join us, to which he replied, 'I've been waiting for you to ask me that.' We went out on the court and worked, and on the same day I realized that he was born for tennis. I asked him to introduce me to his parents. I thought they were guests on Kopaonik, not living there. The Djokovics are a sports family. Novak's father and mother are skiers and they opened a pancake house on Kopaonik so that they could be on the mountain during the winter and two summer months to ski and train. I told them that after Monika Seles, I haven't seen any player like their son and that I think he will be among the top five in the world at the age of 17. They were amazed at my claims, and now that I think about it, they must have thought I wasn't normal. Namely, Srđan (Novak Djokovic's father - op. VS) asked the journalists who were at Kopaonik who I was and when they told him that I created Monika Seles, the family believed me."
"WEATHER": Novak was six years old at the time. How were you sure??
JELENA GENČIĆ: When I approached him and asked him if he wanted to join us, it was time for a lunch break. I told him to come to the field at 14 pm. He was already there at 13.30 and he was waiting for me standing and not sitting, which meant he couldn't wait to start. I think he still comes to training half an hour earlier today. I immediately understood that he has the ability to predict what the opponent will play, and the ability to predict the opponent's moves characterizes top players. He also had excellent perception of the ball, which is the time it takes from noticing where it is to the reaction of the muscles that move the body towards it. During that first conversation with his parents, something else happened. At the beginning, Novak stood next to his parents and during the conversation he approached me step by step, and at the moment when I said that he will be among the top five in the world, he leaned on me. It was an imperceptible gesture, but then an emotional connection was established between us and I knew he trusted me, and that gave him security. You know, the way someone plays tennis at the age of six or seven, they will play it all their life. Of course, technique will evolve over time, but the essential approach to tennis remains the same and does not change.
How did you train Novak??
We worked hard, but we also played. His idol was Pete Sampras and he wanted to copy elements of his game. He wanted both Edberg's serve and volley, as well as Agassi's aggressive forehand. It was not very easy to achieve, but we worked on it. I think that his imitations of the way other tennis players play, which the audience loves so much today, come from that era. I forced him to enter the court about half a meter under the pretext that he was still small, but I actually did it because I thought that in the future, when he plays, tennis will be much more offensive than it was then. I was right, because tennis today is offensive, even bullying.
He was very thin, but I did not allow him to do weight training. I explained to him that he must not do this before the end of puberty because it will reduce his growth, and that fitness will bring him muscle volume, but it will reduce his speed and elasticity. The fact that he is tall, spindly and fast today shows that I was right.
I also insisted that regardless of the weather conditions, he always plays on an open field because he had to be aware of the field and get used to it. I never challenged him on what he did well, but I encouraged him to do better by saying, "That's good, but let's try to make it perfect." Since we're both perfectionists, that approach worked. The goal we were aiming for was to win Wimbledon.
Why did you stop training him?
I am an old woman and I could no longer match him on the field. I couldn't find a sparring partner for him in all of Belgrade because people don't like to lose. Then I called Nikola Pilić and asked him to accept Novak in his tennis camp. Since Novak was 13 years old, a problem arose when Nikola told me that he does not accept children. I asked Nikola to accept Novak for a week and, if he decides that it is not worth working with him, to return him to Belgrade. He called me after a few days and jokingly asked me why I didn't send him to him earlier. I joked back that I didn't do it so that he wouldn't be able to say that he created Novak Djokovic. Since the Djokovics had no money for Novak's stay in the camp, Nikola agreed to let Novak stay there on a temporary basis and the family later paid off his debt. It should also be said that Nikola Pilić and his wife Mia treated Novak wonderfully and made it easier for him to separate from his family. When I heard that Novak said that his idols from this area are Jelena Genčić and Nikola Pilić, I was very happy.
Novak is very attached to his family?
It is. Tennis is a very expensive sport, and the Djokovics were not rich. They lived in a rented apartment and whenever Novak achieved some initial success, they had to move because the landlords would raise the rent thinking they had money. When Novak started, his father Srdjan was a calm man, but as the need for money grew, he became more and more nervous. We were looking for sponsors... We knocked on all the doors and everyone, but absolutely everyone, laughed at us. Once, Srđan said to me: "If only you knew how many times I had a knife at my throat." It was not a figure of speech. He was forced to borrow money from greengrocers. If he didn't have the money to repay the debt to one, he would borrow money from the other to repay the debt and so on.
I predicted that at the age of 17, Novak would be among the top five in the world, but he only became it at the age of 19. The delay occurred because he could not play in the 11 international tournaments, in which it was necessary for him to appear. Those tournaments were important because experience is gained there. Novak only played in two tournaments because there was only so much money. When the first sponsors appeared, I advised Srdjan to reject their offers because it would be reduced to cloths and a couple of rackets. I told him to wait for the moment when he will dictate the conditions to the sponsors. He obeyed me, but it was not easy for him to do so. Novak's brothers Marko and Đorđe also wanted to play tennis. Srdjan asked me not to train them, saying: "I can't stand two more tennis players in the family." I said that I would train them, but that I wouldn't make them champions. Srdjan Djokovic is an extrovert by nature and is used to expressing his feelings. However, since we all knew that Novak would achieve good results only if he was in a peaceful environment, Srđan suppressed his nervousness at home. It's not surprising that he is sometimes grumpy if you know what he has been through.
When was the last time you saw Novak?
Four years ago.
That's a lot., isn't it?
Yes, but I don't hold it against him. Today, professional tennis requires 100% dedication to sponsors, who expect the tennis player they sponsor to be there for them and to be at their service whenever they want. It is a kind of slavery. In addition to meeting the demands of sponsors, there is training and tournament play to be done, leaving little time for anything else.
Have you been to the Serbian Open and the Davis Cup??
I wasn't invited to the Serbia Open and I wasn't even there, and I was at the Davis Cup, although I wasn't invited there either. I bought a ticket like everyone else. I deliberately bought a ticket at the gallery. He had to think about the match, not me. He will have time for me later.
Do you get annoyed watching his matches on television?
The devil took him away, but I know by the way he goes out on the field how ready he is and whether he will win or lose. I rarely fail to predict. However, when things go wrong, I think it's my fault.
What are the greatest virtues of tennis player Novak Djokovic?
His ability to work was always exceptional. He never had enough of tennis. He has the heart to play the hardest shots even in the most impossible situations. He is able to change tactics during the match. And there are still many virtues.
And the disadvantages?
I never talk about flaws because I think they can only be talked about when they are eradicated. However, Novak himself knows his flaws. He's introverted by nature and doesn't show emotions, except when he's over the moon and makes a gaffe that he wouldn't normally make. I also think that he can be better by a third, more determined on the received short ball. Although, everything I just said doesn't mean much in front of the fact that what we are seeing lately represents the perfection of tennis.
Jelena Genčić was born in 1936 in Belgrade, in Dedinje, in the family house, the first villa that was built in that part of the city in the thirties of the twentieth century. She was a top tennis player, but also a handball player. As a tennis player, she was the champion of Yugoslavia 32 times in all categories. As the federal captain of all women's tennis teams of Yugoslavia, she won fourth place at the Federation Cup in Sao Paulo, and she also achieved success as a coach of our players who made up the national team, but performed individually. She was the vice-president of the Tennis Association of Yugoslavia and the Partizan Tennis Club, and today she is the president of the Royal Tennis Club under the patronage of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević.
As a handball player, she was the goalkeeper of the national team in large handball, which was played on the football field, and as a member of the Yugoslav national team at the first world championship in small handball, which was held in Tašmajdan in 1957, she won a bronze medal. She received a national pension as a handball player.
Judging by the statement of the "New York Times", Jelena Genčić is probably the most successful trainer in the world, but it did not bring her money because she never paid for her training. When she was training Monika Seles, the trainings were alternately in Belgrade and Novi Sad, and each of them paid her own travel expenses. She didn't even earn money as a tennis player because, as she says, in her time "winning a tournament only brought a trophy and a diploma, and I lived from my work on television."
She has worked at Television Belgrade since its inception, and joined it as a member of the "Belgrade" Cinema Club. She worked on television as an assistant director and director, on all shows, from Dnevnik to documentaries. She also worked in the school newsroom, but never in the sports one.
She graduated from music high school in the piano department, and is an art historian by education. She explains her interest in philosophy by saying that "she didn't want someone to explain something to her." While she was working in the school newsroom of TV Belgrade, she took a boy whom she was coaching at the time to a recording session. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, he answered that he wants to be a professional tennis player and world champion in tennis because he first learned to play tennis and only then to write. The boy who said that was Novak Djokovic.
When it comes to tennis, it is difficult to put Jelena Genčić in a situation where she does not know what to say. However, a journalist from the "New York Times" managed to do that recently, who called her with the statement that she is the only coach in the world who has coached four tennis players who have won Grand Slam tournaments. "I didn't know what to say to that because I didn't know who exactly he was referring to." Later I realized that he was right - and that he meant Monika Seles, Ivo Majola, Mima Jaušovec, Goran Ivanišević and Novak. Wait, now that I say that, I see that there were not four of them, but five. And maybe he said there were five of them? After all, as if those figures are important!"
How do you like Novak's new girlfriend??
What kind of new girl?
Jelena Ristic, appeared with her on the Croisette at the Cannes Film Festival.
The fact that she agreed to appear there with him does not mean that she is his new girlfriend. She has been with him for six years. It was like yesterday when I met her... One day, after training, Novak approached me and said: "Jeca, I want to introduce you to my girlfriend, your namesake." I immediately liked her - calm, intelligent, modest. It was clear to me that she has her own life and that she is not focused only on Novak. I knew his parents would love it too.
You met her before your parents?
Da
