What a terrible news for Novak Djokovic.
After the match against Grigor Dimitrov, Nole has been informed that his dear (former) coach Jelena Gencic has just passed away at the age of 74. Novak was very close to her and the team had to hide the news till the match was over.
From the tournament
The organisation said in a statement
“After his victory over Grigor Dimitrov, Novak Djokovic learned of the death of his first coach, Jelena Gencic, who passed away today in Belgrade,”
“Clearly affected by this sad news, Novak Djokovic feels unable to give a press conference this evening. He would like to send his apologies to the media. Jelena Gencic ‘discovered’ the world number 1 when he was 6 years old, and went on to coach him for five years.
His team kept the news secret from him until after the match. He just broke down. … He was very, very, very close to her.”
Jelena Gencic
Jelena was a wonderful character that taught all the basics to Nole as he said to an interview at the New York Times “Pretty much what I know on court, I owe to her.”
Jelena was the key person that convinced Nole’s family to invest on their son’s career when he was only 12 years old .
From Nole’s father
“Let’s say that Jelena Gencic gave us strength; she’s a serious woman,” said Goran Djokovic, who at 46 is four years younger than Srdjan. “We were all together as a family, and we had our project. It was not good times, there were sanctions and the war was starting. It was not an easy time for Serbia, for Yugoslavia, but all the money we had we invest in Novak. He had to be the one in front of the family who had to have everything he need — the new racket, the good food and everything. Of course we can live very easy if he didn’t play tennis, but we have a vision.”
Time for Nole to dedicate his first Roland Garros title to her.
