Until 2003: The beginnings
Together with his father Srđan, mother Dijana and his two younger brothers Marko and Đorđe, Novak Đoković grew up in the Serbian capital Belgrade. Đoković began playing tennis as a four-year-old and practiced the sport even during the war in the Balkans. At the age of twelve, he joined Nikola Pilić's tennis academy in Munich. In 2003 he made his professional debut and by the end of the year was ranked 679th in the ATP rankings.
2004-2006: First years on the ATP Tour
In 2004 he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open as a junior. He won his first ATP Challenger tournament at the 2004 Lambertz Open in Aachen.
As a professional, he reached the third round of both Wimbledon and the US Open in 2005 as a qualifier, defeating some higher ranked players such as Gaël Monfils and Mario Ančić. He finished the year ranked 78th in the rankings.
In 2006 he reached the semi-finals of the ATP tournament in Zagreb and the quarter-finals of the French Open, when he only had to retire against the eventual winner Rafael Nadal after trailing 0:2 in the first set due to back problems. On his way to the quarterfinals, he beat Fernando González and Tommy Haas, two players who were ranked well ahead of him in the world rankings. In July, he won the ATP tournament in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. In October, he won in Metz, France, which helped him climb to 16th in the rankings.
2007: 3rd place in the world rankings
In 2007 Đoković reached the last 16 of the Australian Open, where he lost to world number one Roger Federer. In March, he reached the final of the Masters tournament in Indian Wells, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. These results made Đoković the first Serbian tennis player to reach the top ten.
On April 1, he became the youngest player in tournament history to win the Masters Tournament in Miami when he defeated Guillermo Cañas 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. He reached the round of 16 at the Masters tournament in Monte Carlo, where he was defeated by David Ferrer. At the beginning of May he won the ATP tournament in Estoril; in the final he defeated Richard Gasquet 7:6, 0:6 and 6:1. In June he reached the semi-finals of the French Open, but lost there in three sets to Nadal. At the grass court tournament in Queens, he failed to reach the round of 16 against Arnaud Clément. At Wimbledon he retired in the semi-finals against Nadal due to injury.
Đoković achieved his greatest success to date on 12 August when he first defeated Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals, Nadal in the semi-finals and finally Roger Federer in the final in Montreal. This was the first time since 1994 - when Boris Becker triumphed in Stockholm over Michael Stich (third), Pete Sampras (first) and Goran Ivanišević (second) in succession - that a tennis player had managed to defeat the top three players in the ATP rankings within a single tournament of the Masters series.
At the US Open, Đoković reached the final of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career and as the first Serbian player ever, which he lost to Federer 6:7, 6:7 and 4:6 without winning the set despite several set points (five in the first, and two in the second set). After that, Đoković won the tournament in Vienna against Stanislas Wawrinka with 6:4, 6:0. For the first time, Đoković qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup, but was eliminated there in the group stage after three defeats.
Đoković, who was coached by Marián Vajda from 2007, also had Mark Woodforde coaching him at Indian Wells, Miami and Wimbledon.
2008: First Grand Slam title and victory at the Tennis Masters Cup
On 27 January Đoković won his first Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open. He defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 in the final, having defeated world number one and three-time Melbourne winner Roger Federer 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 in the semi-finals. Đoković thus became the first Serb to win a Grand Slam title and the youngest title winner at the Australian Open.
He won his second title of the year on 23 March at the Masters tournament in Indian Wells against Mardy Fish. His third tournament win followed on 11 May at the Masters in Rome, where he defeated Stanislas Wawrinka again 4:6, 6:3, 6:3. At Wimbledon, he was eliminated in the second round with a 4:6, 6:7 (3:7), 2:6 loss to Marat Safin. At the Beijing Olympics he competed in the singles and won the bronze medal. After losing to Nadal in the semifinals, he beat James Blake 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in the third-place match. At the US Open, he lost again in the semi-finals to the eventual tournament winner Roger Federer. In November 2008, he won the Tennis Masters Cup for the first time. In the final he defeated Nikolai Davydenko 6:1 and 7:5.
2009: Five tournament wins
At the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, last year's winner could only reach the quarterfinals this time, where he had to retire exhausted against Andy Roddick in the fourth set. He won the first title of the year at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he defeated David Ferrer 7-5, 6-3 in the final. At the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, he lost to Tommy Haas in the final 3:6, 7:6 and 1:6. At Wimbledon, he made it to the quarterfinals, but failed there, again losing to Haas in 1:3 sets. At the end of the year, Đoković was able to improve again, winning the Basel tournament and the Paris Masters in succession. In Basel he defeated Roger Federer in the final and in Paris his closest rival for the second world ranking, Rafael Nadal, in the semi-finals.
2010: No. 2 in the world rankings and Davis Cup victory
At the Australian Open Đoković lost the quarter-finals against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets, but moved up to second position in the ATP world rankings on 1 February - his new best mark. In Dubai, he defended a title for the first time in his career with a three-set win over Mikhail Yuzhny. At the French Open, he failed to reach the quarter-finals against the 22nd seed Jürgen Melzer. At Wimbledon, after a close five-set match in the first round against Olivier Rochus, Đoković dropped only one set until the semifinals, but lost clearly to Czech Tomáš Berdych 3-6, 5-7, 3-6. At the US Open, he reached the final with a victory over Federer, where he lost to world number one Nadal in four sets. However, his appearance in the final moved him past Federer again in the world rankings to No. 2. In October, he succeeded in defending his title for the second time at the tournament in Beijing. At the indoor tournament in Basel, there was a repeat of the previous year's final, but this time Federer won. At the ATP World Tour Finals, Đoković made it through the group stage but was defeated again in the semi-finals by Federer, the eventual champion. A special highlight took place in December: Playing alongside Janko Tipsarević, Viktor Troicki and Nenad Zimonjić, he won the Davis Cup in Belgrade in front of his home crowd. In the final against France, Đoković won both singles to remain unbeaten at Davis Cup level in 2010. In interviews, Đoković rated this success higher than his triumph at the Australian Open in 2008.
2011: Three Grand Slam titles and number 1 in the world
To open the season, Đoković, who went through the group stage unbeaten, reached the final of the Hopman Cup in Perth alongside Ana Ivanović, which could not take place due to a peritoneal injury suffered by Ivanović. He then went on to win the Australian Open for the second time since 2008. On his way to winning the tournament, he beat world No. 6 Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals and world No. 2 Federer in the semifinals - as he last did at the 2010 US Open - before clearly defeating Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in the final. Đoković only dropped one set during the tournament - in round two against Croatian Ivan Dodig. At the Dubai tournament, he defended his title by beating Federer again in the final - it was Đoković's third Dubai title in a row. At the Indian Wells Masters in March, he again took position 2 in the ATP rankings. He beat Federer in three sets in the semifinals and defeated Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final. Two weeks later, Đoković won the Miami Masters for the second time after 2007. In the final, however, he again beat Nadal 4:6, 6:3, 7:6(4). Đoković had to skip the Masters in Monte Carlo due to injury. He opened the clay court season at his home tournament in Belgrade, where he won his fifth straight title with a final victory over Feliciano López. He beat Nadal 7-5, 6-4 in the final at the Madrid Masters and 6-4, 6-4 in Rome a week later. Đoković's success in Rome incidentally secured him an early berth to the World Tour Finals in London on November 20. Alongside Rafael Nadal, who achieved this for the first time in 2009, he is only the second player to qualify for the Masters final before the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Further victories at the start of the French Open meant he remained unbeaten for a total of 41 matches from the start of the season, which was the second best start to a season in history after John McEnroe (42 victories in 1984). The streak finally snapped in the Paris semifinals when he faced Federer. In total, he remained undefeated for a season-long 43 matches. This was the third longest winning streak in Open Era history - Guillermo Vilas managed 46 and Ivan Lendl 44 victories. The semi-final defeat initially prevented him from storming to the top of the world rankings on his own merits. However, he managed to do so at Wimbledon with a semi-final victory over Tsonga. This meant that he would be the new world No. 1 on 4 July 2011. In the final he beat his predecessor as number 1 Nadal in four sets and thus made his second Grand Slam tournament victory of the year perfect.
Following Wimbledon, Đoković took a four-week break from tournaments (apart from a doubles appearance in the Davis Cup tie against Sweden) before seamlessly continuing his season's success at the Masters tournament in Montreal in mid-August. He won the final against Mardy Fish in three sets and thus secured the fifth victory in a Masters tournament in one season, which had never been achieved before. In the following Masters tournament in Cincinnati he again reached the final. However, he retired from the match against Andy Murray at 4:6 and 0:3 due to shoulder problems - it was only his second defeat of the season.
At the US Open, he advanced to the final after a five-set win over Federer, against whom he fought off two match points on Federer's serve. There he met Nadal in a final for the sixth time this year. After more than four hours of play, Đoković won the match in four sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1, to claim his third victory in a Grand Slam tournament this season. In December, Đoković was named Europe's Sportsman of the Year in a poll conducted by the Polish press agency Polska Agencja Prasowa (PAP). The Union of European Sports Journalists (UEPS) also awarded him this title.
2012: Third Australian Open win and victory at the ATP World Tour Finals
First, the Serb defended his title at the Australian Open. In the final, he won a five-set match against Nadal that lasted almost six hours, 5:7, 6:4, 6:2, 6:7 (5:7), 7:5. It was the longest match in the tournament's history and the longest Grand Slam final in the Open Era. On February 6, he was awarded the title of World Sportsman of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards.
In Dubai he managed to reach the semi-finals, where he lost to Murray 2:6, 5:7. He also missed out on the final at the Indian Wells tournament, losing 6-7, 6-3, 6-7 to John Isner. In Miami, Đoković managed to reach the final. There he was able to take revenge against Murray with a 6:1, 7:6 victory for the semi-final defeat in Dubai. It was the 30th title of his professional career, which he also won without losing a set. In the final of Monte Carlo he had to admit defeat to the "clay court king" Nadal surprisingly clearly with 3:6, 1:6. After losing in the quarter-finals to his compatriot Janko Tipsarević in Madrid, he again reached the final of the Masters tournament in Rome. There, as in Monte Carlo, he lost to Nadal in two sets. At the French Open, Đoković reached the final for the first time in his career with a three-set win over Federer in the semi-finals. In the final, which was interrupted at times due to rain and played over two days, he lost again to Nadal in four sets. At Wimbledon he reached the semi-finals but lost in four sets to the eventual winner Roger Federer, who knocked him off the top spot in the world rankings.
Đoković carried the Serbian flag at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. However, he failed to win a medal in both the singles and doubles. In the doubles he failed with Viktor Troicki already in the first round against the Swedes Johan Brunström and Robert Lindstedt, in the singles he entered the semi-finals. There he lost to Andy Murray 5:7, 5:7 and missed the final as he did in Beijing in 2008. In the bronze medal match he then also lost to Juan Martín del Potro in two sets. By winning the title in Toronto and reaching the final in Cincinnati, Đoković then won the US Open Series for the first time. In the process, he defeated Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2 in the Toronto final, while he lost to Federer 0-6, 6-7 in Cincinnati. He reached the final of the US Open for the fourth time, defeating Andy Murray 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2.
After Đoković won the China Open for the third time by defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final, he faced Andy Murray again in the Shanghai final. This time, after fending off five match points, he prevailed 5-7, 7-6, 6-3. As a result, Đoković had won at least once in seven of the nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments on the tournament calendar at the time. Only Andre Agassi and Roger Federer had previously won seven different Masters tournaments. In addition, by reaching the Shanghai final, Đoković became the second player after Federer to reach at least one final in each of the current Masters tournaments.
After the cancellation of the Paris Masters by defending champion Federer, Đoković regained the world ranking lead on November 5. On 12 November, he won the season-ending final in London for the second time since 2008. He won all three preliminary round matches as well as the semi-final against Juan Martín del Potro and beat last year's winner and six-time ATP World Tour champion Federer 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 in the final. Đoković thus secured a further 1,500 world ranking points at the end of the year and earned tournament prize money totalling 1.76 million US dollars.
2013: Fourth Australian Open win
The top-seeded Serb beat Andy Murray 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the Australian Open final to secure his fourth title overall at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, along with $2.43 million in prize money. It also made him the first player in the Open Era to win three straight at the Australian Open. In the first round of the Davis Cup against Belgium, Đoković came into play in the singles against Olivier Rochus, whom he defeated clearly in three sets. Serbia won the match 3:2. In Dubai, Đoković defeated Tomáš Berdych 7:5 and 6:3 in 94 minutes, his fourth title at the tournament. He reached the semifinals and round of 16 at the Masters in Indian Wells and Miami, respectively. In the second round of the Davis Cup, he led the Serbian team against the United States. He won both his singles against John Isner and Sam Querrey, the match ended 3:1 for Serbia.
In Monaco Đoković won his third title of the current season, ending Nadal's run of 46 consecutive victories in Monte Carlo. At the Masters in Madrid he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in his opening match, and in the following tournament in Rome he was beaten by Berdych in the quarter-finals. At the French Open, he met Nadal in the semi-finals, losing narrowly in five sets 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 and 7-9. At Wimbledon, the top-seeded Serb reached the semifinals without dropping a set, where he narrowly defeated del Potro 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3. In the final, Đoković met Murray, as he had done at the Australian Open, losing 4-6, 5-7, 4-6.
At the Masters tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati he was beaten in the semi-finals by Nadal and in the quarter-finals by John Isner. He was much more successful at the US Open, where he reached the final as in the previous year. However, he lost to Nadal 2:6, 6:3, 4:6 and 1:6. In the semi-finals of the Davis Cup, Đoković played in the singles matches. He won the matches against Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil in three straight sets and thus contributed significantly to the 3:2 victory against Canada. At the following tournament in Beijing, he met Nadal again in the final, this time winning clearly 6:3 and 6:4. Nadal's appearance in the final saw Đoković drop to second place in the world rankings.
At the Masters in Shanghai, Đoković defended his title by defeating del Potro 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) in the final. In Paris, Đoković won the Masters after defeating Roger Federer in the semifinals and David Ferrer 7-5, 7-5 in the final. At the final 2013 ATP World Tour Finals, Đoković started as the defending champion, as he did at the Masters in Shanghai. He won his three group matches, including against Federer, beat Stanislas Wawrinka in the subsequent semi-final and defeated Nadal 6-3 and 6-4 in the final. In the Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic, Đoković won both his singles matches against Radek Štěpánek and Tomáš Berdych, but Serbia lost 3-2 to the Czech team overall.
At the end of the year Novak Đoković hired former world number one Boris Becker as his new coach.
2014: Second win at Wimbledon and return to the top of the world rankings
At the start of the 2014 season, Đoković, as defending champion at the Australian Open, lost in the quarter-finals to eventual tournament winner Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-9. It was his first defeat in Melbourne since 2010, before which he had gone unbeaten for three years and a total of 25 matches at the first Grand Slam tournament of the season. Đoković then found better form at the spring Masters, winning both tournaments for the second time in his career. In the process, he beat Roger Federer (Indian Wells) and Rafael Nadal (Miami) in the finals. At the start of the clay court season, he failed to beat Federer in the semi-finals in Monte Carlo, bringing his run of successful Masters tournaments to an end after four titles. Due to an injury, Đoković missed the next tournament in Madrid, but quickly got back on track and won his third Masters tournament of the season in Rome. He was again successful against Nadal in the final and thus defeated the Spanish world number one for the fourth time in the final of a clay court Masters. However, the tide turned again at the French Open. Although Đoković won the first set against Nadal in the final, he still had to concede defeat to the Spaniard for the third time in a row and for the sixth time in total at the most important clay court tournament of the year.
At Wimbledon, Đoković reached the final as the No. 1 seed, as he did last year. There he beat Roger Federer 6:7, 6:4, 7:6, 5:7 and 6:4 in a final that lasted almost four hours, thus also regaining the top spot in the world rankings. On the way to the US Open, Đoković suffered two surprising early defeats at the Masters tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati, where he failed in the 3rd round on both occasions. At the US Open itself, he then reached the semi-finals for the eighth time in a row, but was beaten here in four sets by Kei Nishikori. As in the previous two years, Đoković had thus only won one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in a season.
In the following weeks Đoković cemented his position in the world rankings with successes in the final tournaments of the season. In Beijing, for example, he won his fifth title in six years. He beat Tomáš Berdych 6-0 and 6-2 in the final, and lost to Roger Federer in the semi-finals at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. He went on to win the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris without dropping a set. In the final, he defeated Milos Raonic 6:2 and 6:3. At the ATP World Tour Finals, Novak Đoković set a new record. In the first three group matches, he conceded only nine games. By reaching the semi-finals, he secured the top spot in the world rankings at the end of the year. As Federer did not play in the final and Đoković won without a fight, this marked his seventh title of the season and his fourth at the World Tour Finals.
2015: Won three Grand Slam tournaments and six Masters again
| Record Grand Slam winner in men's singles |
| Rank | Players | Title |
| 1. | Switzerland Roger Federer | 20 |
| Spain Rafael Nadal |
| 3. | Serbia Novak Đoković | 19 |
| 4. | United States  Pete Sampras | 14 |
| 5. | Australia  Roy Emerson | 12 |
| 6. | Sweden Björn Borg | 11 |
| Australia Rod Laver |
| 8. | United States Bill Tilden | 10 |
| Status: 13 June 2021 |
| Record world number one in men's singles |
| Rank | Tennis player | Weeks |
| 1. | Serbia Novak Đoković | 326 |
| 2. | Switzerland Roger Federer | 310 |
| 3. | United States Pete Sampras | 286 |
| 4. | Czechoslovakia Ivan Lendl | 270 |
| 5. | United States Jimmy Connors | 268 |
| 6. | Spain Rafael Nadal | 209 |
| 7. | United States John McEnroe | 170 |
| 8. | Sweden Björn Borg | 109 |
| 9. | United States Andre Agassi | 101 |
| Status: 21 June 2021 |
Novak Đoković started the 2015 season with a great success. He defeated Andy Murray 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0 in the final of the Australian Open, making the Serb the first player in the Open Era to win this Grand Slam tournament for the fifth time. Only Roy Emerson had won the tournament more often (six times in total) in the 1960s. In the weeks and months that followed, Đoković celebrated further tournament victories. For example, he became only the second player after Roger Federer to successfully defend the Masters double from Indian Wells and Miami. His success in Monte Carlo in April then made Đoković the first player ever to win the first three Masters tournaments of a season. His run of success at Masters tournaments eventually ended in Madrid, as he opted not to participate. Shortly before the start of the French Open, he won his fourth Masters tournament of the season in Rome.
At the 2015 French Open Đoković met nine-time title-holder Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals. In his seventh attempt, Đoković managed the first success against Nadal in Paris, overall it was only the second defeat for the Spaniard at this tournament. He reached the final of the French Open for the third time thanks to a successful semi-final match against Murray. This time he was beaten by Stan Wawrinka in four sets and thus once again missed the chance to join the circle of players who have won all four Grand Slam tournaments at least once in their career.
Without any further preparation tournaments, Đoković began his title defence at Wimbledon three weeks later. Once again he played his way to the final, where he met Roger Federer in a repeat of the previous year's final. He prevailed 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 to secure his third Wimbledon title and ninth Grand Slam tournament win overall.
In preparation for the US Open, Đoković lost for the first time during the season in the Masters series. He reached the final in both Montreal and Cincinnati, but was defeated in both finals. At the US Open, Đoković reached the final for the sixth time in his career. He became the third player of the Open Era (after Rod Laver and Roger Federer) to reach the final of all four Grand Slam tournaments in a season. Once again, he faced Federer, whom he dispatched 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. As in 2011, Đoković had thus won three Grand Slam tournaments in one season and extended his title tally to a total of ten major victories.
After the US Open he set a new record in the world tennis rankings with 16,145 points (in the further course of the season he increased this record to 16,785 points). The previous best was held by Roger Federer with 8,370 points (equivalent to 15,745 points in the current points system) in the 2006 season. In addition, Đoković's success at the US Open also secured him the top spot in the world rankings at the end of the year - for the fourth time in his career. Only Pete Sampras (six times), Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors (five times each) have finished a season at the top of the world rankings more often.
At the start of the final phase of the season, Đoković won the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Beijing for the sixth time in his career. At no other tournament has Đoković been successful so often. He also won the subsequent Masters in Shanghai and Paris, becoming the first player ever to win six tournaments in this category in one season. In total, Đoković has now won 26 Masters titles (only Rafael Nadal has won more Masters titles). Đoković's 23-match winning streak finally came to an end in the group stage of the 2015 ATP World Tour Finals against Roger Federer. Despite this defeat, the Serb advanced to the final of the tournament and met Federer again, this time defeating him 6-3, 6-4. This was his fifth title at the season-ending Tour Finals and fourth consecutive win at the tournament (a record). Only his final opponent has been more successful in Tour Finals with six victories. Đoković finished the 2015 season with numerous records and personal bests, including eleven season titles, 82 match wins and more than 16,000 world ranking points.
2016: Completion of the career Grand Slam and loss of the top spot in the world rankings
Đoković began the 2016 season with a tournament success in Doha, the 60th singles title of his career. The success meant that he once again improved his record number of world ranking points slightly to 16,790. At the Australian Open, Đoković reached his fifth Grand Slam final in a row. He defeated Andy Murray 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 in the final, setting Roy Emerson's record with his sixth Australian Open win overall. Đoković continued his winning streak at the Masters tournaments in the USA. He became the first player to win the Masters double from Indian Wells and Miami for the third time in a row and the fourth time overall. The two tournament wins took his tally of Masters titles to 28, bettering Rafael Nadal's previous record. With the win in Miami, Đoković also beat Roger Federer's previous record for the highest amount of prize money won in a career.
At the start of the clay-court season Đoković surprisingly failed in his opening match in Monte Carlo. It was his first opening defeat at an ATP tournament in almost three years. However, he found his way back to winning ways at the next Masters tournament in Madrid, winning his fifth title of the season. At the 2016 French Open, he reached the final for the fourth time, winning in four sets against Andy Murray (3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4). With this, he became the eighth player to complete the career Grand Slam in singles. He also achieved a faux Grand Slam with his fourth consecutive Grand Slam victory, becoming only the third player in tennis history to do so after Don Budge and Rod Laver. During the tournament, Đoković also became the fifth player in history to reach his 200th week atop the world rankings. He also became the fifth player to reach a streak of 100 uninterrupted weeks at No. 1. He also improved the record for most points in the world tennis rankings once again with 16,950 points. By reaching the quarter-finals, Đoković became the first tennis player in history to surpass the $100 million threshold in tournament prize money.
Attempting to defend his title at Wimbledon, Đoković surprisingly lost in the third round to US player Sam Querrey in four sets. This ended several of the Serb's winning streaks at Grand Slam tournaments. Đoković had previously reached the final at six Grand Slam tournaments in a row, had always reached at least the semi-finals at nine tournaments and had always reached at least the quarter-finals at 28 tournaments since Wimbledon 2009.
Shortly before the start of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Đoković secured his seventh title of the season in Toronto, making him the first player to win 30 Masters tournaments. At the Olympic tennis tournament, he then failed to win the gold medal in the first round against Juan Martín del Potro, thus missing out on his third attempt. He was also eliminated early in the doubles. Đoković then had to cancel the subsequent Masters tournament in Cincinnati due to a wrist injury. At the US Open, Đoković benefited on several occasions from an opponent's failure to come out or retire early and thus reached his seventh final in New York with only two set losses. However, he was defeated by Stan Wawrinka in four sets and suffered his fifth final loss at the US Open. Đoković was also unsuccessful in the last two Masters tournaments of the season. As his rival Andy Murray, on the other hand, won both tournaments, Đoković had to relinquish the lead in the world rankings to the Briton on 7 November 2016. At 122 consecutive weeks, it had been the fourth-longest uninterrupted lead in the rankings. At the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, it came down to a direct duel between Đoković and Murray in the final. It was not only about winning the tournament, but also about deciding which of the two players would finish the season as world No. 1. Murray retained the upper hand with 6:3, 6:4 and remained number 1.
In December 2016, Đoković and coach Boris Becker ended their cooperation.
2017: Health problems and abandonment at Wimbledon
At the start of the 2017 season Đoković achieved his first tournament success in almost half a year in Doha. At the 2017 Australian Open, Đoković was eliminated by Denis Istomin in round two. For him, it was the earliest elimination at a Grand Slam tournament since 2008, when he was also eliminated in the second round at Wimbledon. In Acapulco, he failed to reach the quarter-finals against Nick Kyrgios. He also lost to Kyrgios in Indian Wells, this time already in the round of 16. This was his first defeat in Indian Wells since 2013. Đoković had to cancel his participation in the Masters tournament in Miami, which he had won five times in the last six years, due to an elbow injury.
At the start of the clay-court season, he was eliminated by David Goffin in the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo, and in Madrid he lost to Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. In Rome, as in the previous year, he reached the final, which he lost in two sets to Alexander Zverev. Shortly afterwards, he announced that he had hired Andre Agassi as his new coach. He had previously parted company with his long-time coach Marián Vajda, as well as with his fitness trainer and physiotherapist. At the French Open, he reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to Dominic Thiem clearly in three sets with 6:75, 3:6 and 0:6. He won the preparatory tournament on grass in Eastbourne against Gaël Monfils 6:3 and 6:4. At Wimbledon, Đoković reached the quarterfinals against Tomáš Berdych, where he had to retire due to injury at 6:72 and 0:2. At a press conference in Belgrade less than two weeks later, he announced that he was ending the 2017 season early due to injury. Due to the early end of the season, Đoković was not ranked in the top ten of the world rankings for the first time in more than a decade on 6 November 2017, ending the 2017 season at number twelve. In November, Đoković added former professional player Radek Štěpánek to his new coaching team.
2018: Comeback with two Grand Slam titles and Golden Masters, return to top of world rankings
Đoković returned to the tour at the 2018 Australian Open, but was defeated in three sets by Chung Hyeon in the round of 16. At the end of January he decided to undergo elbow surgery, so that he did not play his first matches again until March in Indian Wells. After failing again early in both Indian Wells and Miami, Đoković parted ways with his coaches Agassi and Štěpánek again after only a short collaboration. He hired his long-time coach Vajda again for the Monte Carlo Masters. In the following weeks, the renewed cooperation showed its first successes. For example, Đoković reached the semi-finals at a Masters in Rome for the first time in a year. At the 2018 French Open, he advanced to the quarterfinals, as in the previous year, where he lost to Marco Cecchinato. In the following grass court season, Đoković continued to show rising form and reached the final in Queens, where he was defeated by Marin Čilić. At Wimbledon, he started as the twelfth seed and reached the semi-finals after losing only two sets. There it came to the 52nd duel between Đoković and Rafael Nadal. In a hard-fought match, Đoković prevailed in five sets to reach his first Grand Slam final since the 2016 US Open. In the final, Đoković defeated his opponent Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 to win his fourth Wimbledon title. By winning his 13th Grand Slam title, Đoković also returned to the top ten of the world rankings after a break of around nine months.
In preparation for the US Open, Đoković reached the last 16 in Toronto, where he lost in three sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas, before advancing to the final in Cincinnati. There, he faced Roger Federer for the first time in more than two years. Đoković prevailed 6-4, 6-4 to celebrate his 70th career title. With his first title in Cincinnati, Đoković also became the first player in history to win all nine Masters tournaments at least once, thus achieving the so-called Golden Masters. Đoković also reached the final at the 2018 US Open. With his eighth final appearance at the last Grand Slam tournament of the season, he equalled the Open era record of Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl. He defeated Juan Martín del Potro in three sets in the final to win his third US Open title. With his 14th Grand Slam title overall, Đoković drew level with Sampras and also continued to climb up the world rankings to number three. He then won the Masters in Shanghai for the fourth time after defeating Borna Ćorić 6-3, 6-4 and rose to second in the world rankings.
At the following Paris Masters Đoković reached his third Masters final in a row, but lost to Karen Khachanov in the final. This was the first time he had suffered defeat after 22 match victories in a row. With world number one Nadal having cancelled his tournament participation, Đoković returned to the top of the world rankings on 8 November, after a two-year hiatus. Even before the season-ending Tour Finals, Đoković also secured the year-end No. 1 position due to Nadal's renewed cancellation. His fifth year at the top of the world rankings moved him level with Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors, trailing only Pete Sampras (6 years as No. 1) in that ranking. Đoković reached his seventh ATP Finals final without defeat, but was beaten 4-6, 3-6 by Alexander Zverev in the final match of the year.
2019: Record Australian Open win and fifth Wimbledon success.
In preparation for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, Đoković lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in the semi-finals in Doha. He then reached his third Grand Slam final in a row at the Australian Open itself. In a rematch of the 2012 final, he faced Rafael Nadal. For the first time, Đoković, in their eighth meeting in a Grand Slam final, managed an outright three-set win over the Spaniard, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. His seventh win at the Australian Open set a new record for victories at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, which he had previously shared with Roger Federer and Roy Emerson.
Đoković failed to preserve the form of the Australian Open until his next appearances at the Masters tournaments in March. As in the previous year, he failed early in the third round (Indian Wells) and in the round of 16 (Miami). At the start of the clay court season, Đoković also suffered a comparatively early defeat at the Masters tournament in Monte Carlo. He lost in the quarterfinals to Daniil Medvedev in three sets. At the following Masters in Madrid, he then played stronger and reached the final without losing a set. There he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 and 6-4 and won the tournament in Madrid for the third time in his career after 2011 and 2016. With his 33rd success in a Masters tournament, he again drew level with Rafael Nadal in the record list. Just one week later, Đoković had to relinquish this record to Nadal. Although he reached the final in Rome, he lost the final to the Spaniard in three sets. At the French Open, he played his way into the semi-finals without losing a set. In a hard-fought match, he was beaten in five sets by Dominic Thiem, narrowly missing out on his fifth final in Paris.
A month later, Đoković reached the final in his title defence at Wimbledon with only two set losses. There he met eight-time title winner Roger Federer. In their third Wimbledon final together after 2014 and 2015, Đoković prevailed extremely narrowly in the longest final in Wimbledon history at 4 hours and 57 minutes. At 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 4-6, 13-12, Đoković fended off two match points from Federer to win the final set in a newly introduced tiebreak. With five Wimbledon titles now, Đoković was behind only Federer (8), Pete Sampras (7) and William Renshaw (7) on the tournament's all-time list.
In preparation for the 2019 US Open, Đoković decided against the Masters tournament in Canada and only competed at the Cincinnati Masters. There he was defeated in the semi-finals by Daniil Medvedev. At the US Open, he was handicapped by a shoulder injury and retired during his round of 16 match against Stan Wawrinka due to injury during the third set. Đoković returned to the tour at the end of September. In his first appearance at the Tokyo tournament, Đoković immediately reached the final, where he defeated John Millman and celebrated his fourth title of the season. At the title defence in Shanghai, however, he failed to reach the quarter-finals against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Đoković was more successful at the last Masters tournament of the season in Paris, where he defeated Denis Shapovalov in the final for the fifth time. Despite his fifth title of the season, however, he had to relinquish the lead in the world rankings to Nadal, at least temporarily. At the ATP Finals, he was eliminated in the group stage after two losses to Dominic Thiem and Roger Federer; he last lost to Federer in 2015. He finished the season in second place in the world rankings behind Nadal.
2020: ATP Cup win, Australian Open title defense and US Open disqualification.
Đoković triumphed with the Serbian team at the inaugural ATP Cup. He played all six possible singles matches, in addition to two doubles matches, and won all of them. At the Australian Open, Đoković repeated his success from the previous year. With his 17th Grand Slam victory, the eighth at the Australian Open (which meant an extension of his own record), Đoković regained the top position in the world rankings. In the final, he defeated Dominic Thiem in five sets 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Đoković had previously defeated Roger Federer, Milos Raonic and Jan-Lennard Struff, among others.
In June 2020, Đoković hosted the Adriatic Tour as the regular ATP Tour tournament schedule was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 infections occurred at the Belgrade and Zadar venues as a result of matches. In addition to Đoković himself, his wife, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Ćorić and Viktor Troicki tested positive for the virus. Đoković faced widespread criticism for not taking the virus seriously and acting negligently. Among other things, players hugging each other, full grandstands, lack of mouth-to-nose coverings and a joint celebration were cited. After resuming the tour, he won the Cincinnati Masters in New York in August, defeating Milos Raonic in three sets in the final. That made him the first player to win all nine Masters tournaments at least twice, again equalling Rafael Nadal's record with his 35th title in the tournament series.
At the US Open, he was disqualified in his match against Pablo Carreño Busta in the round of 16 on 6 September 2020. He had hit a ball away out of frustration after losing a service game in the first set, hitting a lineswoman. He went on to win the Rome Masters for the fifth time, setting a new record with his 36th title in this tournament category. At Roland Garros, he reached the final for the fifth time, making it at least five times in all four Grand Slam tournaments and equalling the record of Federer and Nadal. However, he lost this final clearly in three sets to Nadal. Đoković then competed in Vienna and lost in the quarterfinals to Lorenzo Sonego. Nevertheless, he scored enough points from his two previous wins in the tournament to finish the year as world number one. He thus set or equalled two records: on the one hand, he finished a season as the oldest world number one at the age of 33. At the same time he finished the year as number one for the sixth time, something only Pete Sampras managed.
2021: Two Grand Slam titles and world ranking record
Đoković won the Australian Open for the third time in a row with a clear three-set victory over Daniil Medvedev, this was his ninth Australian Open title in a total of 18 Grand Slam victories. On 8 March 2021, he was in his 311th week at the top of the world rankings, surpassing Federer's record of 310 weeks atop the world rankings in his career. In the following tournaments in Monte Carlo and Belgrade, he only reached the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively. At the French Open, he defeated defending champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. It was Nadal's second loss to Đoković (and his third loss overall) at the tournament. Đoković then beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets in the final after trailing 2-0. With the tournament win, Đoković became only the third player after Roy Emerson and Rod Laver to win all four Grand Slam tournaments at least twice.
