NOVAK DJOKOVIC has relived the “horrifying” moment he fled for his life as a young kid as NATO bombs dropped on war-torn Serbia.
In March 1999, several weeks before his 12th birthday, Djokovic – the greatest player in men’s tennis – and his family escaped their apartment as explosions rocked capital Belgrade.
Novak Djokovic revealed the shocking moment he fled from NATO bombs as a kid Credit: Amazon Prime
The tennis star and his family escaped their apartment as explosions rocked capital Belgrade Credit: Amazon Prime
His memories of that traumatic time – when his homeland was bombed by air strikes daily for two-and-a-half months during the Kosovo War – are recalled in a new documentary out today.
Djokovic, 39, said: “One of those first nights of the bombing, our building did not have a shelter. So we had to go to another building.
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“We were running towards that other building. It’s a horrifying sight because this is 2-3am. It was dark. You see people running around, panicking.
“They don’t know where to go, trying to save their lives.
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“I tripped and I fell. I saw my family running 40, 50 feet in front of me. And I tried to scream, ‘help me, help me’.
“They didn’t hear me, they kept running. I turned around and I looked at our building.
“And I saw a plane dropping two bombs into a nearby hospital. Standing in the rain and darkness…”
The recollections of the war are told in a new Prime Video film – Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter – which is released ahead of next week’s US Open in New York.
In his new Amazon documentary, Djokovic walks fans through his stratospheric rise Credit: Amazon Prime
Family, friends, and colleagues all contributed to the 90-minute doc Credit: Amazon Prime
Talking about that war 27 years ago, Novak’s brother Marko said: “At the beginning, it was a horror story.
“You cannot imagine as a little kid that something like that can happen.
“During the evenings, you just hide in your little home that we lived in. In a corner all together, just praying that nothing happens.”
Later that year, in the autumn of 1999, Djokovic, a promising junior, left Serbia and moved to Munich to train at the tennis academy run by Croatian Niki Pilic, the 1973 French Open finalist.
But his dad, a former skiing instructor, had to borrow money off “criminals” to fund the sporting dreams.
Djokovic, who went on to win 24 tennis majors and Paris 2024 Olympic singles gold, said: “Economically it was really hard to sustain the financial demands on the family.
“For probably one of the most expensive sports that you could choose.
“The whole country was struggling economically. People were literally looking for shelter and trying to save their lives and not thinking about tennis or anything like that.
Djokovic left Serbia in 1999 and moved to Munich to train at a tennis academy Credit: Getty
In the Prime doc, Djokovic revealed that tennis became “a sanctuary for me” Credit: Amazon Prime
“Most of the time you borrowed money from very wrong people, unfortunately, that were criminals.
“So all of the reserves that we had he was giving to pay off the debt.
“My father felt that I was mature enough to take some of the weight and responsibilities that he’s been carrying.
“So he sat us all down and he took out 10 Deutschmarks at that time, which is equivalent to 10 dollars now. And he said, ‘this is all we got’.
“I’m going to do everything possible so that you live your dream. But there’s one thing that I ask from you.
“You have to be 100% dedicated to this. Because if I see that you’re not, it’s done.
“I had to become more serious, more stern, more stable, more of a man rather than a boy.
“I had to be kind of a parent at 13 years old. I wasn’t able anymore to express my feelings. And I was a kid.”
His wife Jelena said he channels his anger to play better but it often means smashing racquets Credit: Amazon Prime
Former coach Andre Agassi admitted he was surprised at how Djokovic “needed fear” to play Credit: Getty
On the tennis court – which became “a sanctuary for me” – Djokovic says he is the embodiment of the Serbian word ‘inat’, which means defiance or stubbornness.
The former world No.1 said: “When people doubt you, when everyone is basically against you, that’s when you use that ‘inat’, that force of stubbornness to prove everybody wrong.
“And that ‘inat’ is actually quite widespread in the mentality of Serbian people.”
The 90-minute doc, which features interviews with wife Jelena and his parents, claims he channels his anger to play better but this often involves smashing racquets or clashing with rowdy fans.
Djokovic said: “That’s definitely a factor that motivates me, yeah.
“If the crowd starts going against me, I do use that to awaken that warrior inside of me. It’s called ‘inat’.”
American tennis great Andre Agassi, Djokovic’s former coach, said: “I was surprised how dark he needed to feel to get the most out of himself.
“For Novak to do his job, he needed fear or anger. Because with love or appreciation, he lost his fangs.”
‘Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter’ documentary is available to watch on Prime Video.
