24 Years Before Adding $3,000,000 to $240,000,000 Million Net Worth, Novak Djokovic Trained on ‘Unofficial Loans’

Today, Novak Djokovic has earned a total prize money of more than 200 times the prize money he won at the US Open 2023, which is $3 million without taxes and other deductions. However, there was a time when he dealt with the threat of Balkan Wars destroying his hometown of Belgrade. The Djokovic family feared for their security and virtually lost everything they had during a mentally-shattering 78-day period when NATO bombs killed people and destroyed property.

Back in his younger days when he stayed in Serbia, Novak Djokovic did not have a comparatively privileged childhood or youth. His father was a skiing instructor and a pizza parlour owner. But in 1999, disaster struck and it nearly ended his aspirations to become the best tennis player in the world.

Djokovic trained at the age of 12 with virtually no money

Novak Djokovic has impressed tennis pundits, critics, neutrals and his biggest supporters alike with his ability to break all-time records at the age of 36. In the legend’s own words, he is ‘living a childhood dream’ but never imagined that he would one day win 24 Grand Slams. But this would have not been a reality in ordinary circumstances or perhaps with ordinary individuals.

Djokovic is emotional till date about he and his family’s early difficulties, remembering his father once showing him a 10 dinar note as the family’s only possession at the time. Talking to Corriere, he revealed that his training cost $5,000 a month and this investment was a responsibility for the champion to fulfill. Such was their desperation that his father had to approach criminals, some who were also loan sharks and he had to agree to a 12.5% interest rate deal with them.

Novak Djokovic was quoted as saying –

“With the war we had lost everything, even the pizzeria. He showed me a ten-mark note and said: this is all we have left. The fees for the school that had opened in Bavaria for Niki Pilic, the former champion to whom I had been referred by Jelena (Gencic), cost five thousand a month.

“My father did it to make me understand that I had a responsibility. He went to the loan sharks, criminals. Serbia at the time of the embargo was a dangerous place. They asked him for 12.5 per cent interest. Then they added: Are you in a hurry? Yes? So let’s do it on the 15th. Even my mother worked a lot, she suffered a lot.”

This success recipe of Novak Djokovic had not only spoonfuls of family support, mental fortitude, risk and undying passion towards the game, but also conquering fear. Djokovic recalled having to strategize extremely smartly yet carefully in terms of planning travel routes so that he could train despite the fear of getting killed. He admitted that the war actually spurred him on, as he wished to prove to everyone that Serbia is not as bad as it was projected to the world back then.

“For me it was like a game, but for my parents it was a terrible stress: fear, the queue for bread, the hour of electricity a day in which my mother had to cook as much as possible. That war was an additional motivation. Half the world was against us, our country certainly didn’t have a good image and I wanted to demonstrate to the world that there were also good Serbs.”

Novak Djokovic net worth and prize money

The Serbian superstar won 3 Grand Slams in 2023. From those titles, Djokovic’s net worth got a boost of $8,071,453. Considering the other tournaments he participated in as well as the Wimbledon 2023 final, he made approximately other $1.9 million.

He bagged another $1.03 million for winning the Cincinnati Masters 2023. Djokovic is the most successful player of all-time when it comes to prize money earnings, which stands at $175.28 million at present.