“A little professional who only had one goal in mind: to become number one in the world.” When he landed in Munich in 1999, Novak Djokovic entered Niki Pilic’s training academy, where the then-teenager was forged as a tennis star.
In Oberschleisseheim, on the northern outskirts of Munich, the Niki Pilic Academy proudly displays images of its most prestigious pupil on its walls.
The photo of Novak Djokovic, who is now in London to face the challenge of winning Wimbledon for the eighth time, crowns a corridor that the Serb went through as a teenager, between the ages of 12 and 16, to go to training.
“I always played on track number 4 or number 8,” explains Wolfgang Reiner, who was coach of ‘Nole’ for two years. The white-bearded German coach remembers several anecdotes about that young Serb with his “exceptional backhand.”
“As soon as training was over, he would watch tennis matches on television. He would parody the players, their shots, their speeches. It was very funny,” he says. In the late 1990s, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were the stars of the moment.
Once on the circuit, Djokovic also became known for his fondness for imitations, parodying Rafa Nadal or Maria Sharapova, for example.
In Munich they also remember him hitting the ball against a wall or looking for playmates to train over and over again.
“During the lunch break, Nole was always the first to finish eating. He was looking for someone to play tennis against him, before he resumed training. Once, he even asked the goalkeeper!” laughs Wolfgang Reiner.
“FATHER IN TENNIS”
Novak Djokovic arrived in Germany in 1999, at the height of the Balkan war, which was raging in his city, Belgrade. He left his suitcases in a small room in the sports complex, then new, intended to train professional players.
It was the Croatian coach Niki Pilic who proposed to that boy Nole to settle in Munich to train at his academy. The coach already had a great reputation, as captain of Germany, winner of three Davis Cups with Boris Becker (1988 and 1989) and Michael Stich (1993).
“Djokovic had unusual discipline for a boy his age, a good mentality and an excellent physique. He was a small professional who only had one goal in mind: to become number one in the world,” he said in statements to the AFP the coach, who is now 83 years old, from his home in Croatia.
“Niki Pilic, who was my father in tennis, and who still is, is one of the most persevering and passionate people about tennis I have ever come across”: after winning his 23rd Grand Prix title in June Slam on the Parisian clay of Roland Garros, Djokovic thus paid tribute to Pilic.
The player with the most Grand Slam titles, at 36, considers that he was “very lucky” to have found Pilic and to be able to learn from him at a time when his parents were going through “many difficulties, financial and emotional”.
At the German academy, Djokovic had very busy days, which included four hours of tennis and one of muscle strengthening.
Whenever he could, with the dozen young people his age housed in the complex, Novak ran around the rowing channel located next to the academy, built for the 1972 Munich Games. In summer, teenagers bathed in it after training.
THE TAKEOFF
From 1999 to 2003, Djokovic’s progression was amazing. Between stays of two to three months in Munich, he was chaining tournaments.
“He had a phenomenal level of play, although you couldn’t yet tell how big he was going to be,” says Niki Pilic, recalling a tournament in 2001 in which Djokovic was proclaimed U14 European champion.
“It was already unbelievable,” says Nic Marschand, who also coached Djokovic during his Bavarian years. This German trainer remembers a teenager “who wanted to learn” and who “moved very well”.
“All his shots were good, he smelled the game. Tactically, he always managed to counter the opponent’s game. He had an unusual vision,” he analyzes.
Although there were times when Djokovic was less disciplined, “he always worked ten times more than the others, he wanted to improve permanently.”
“Nole was a very intelligent young man who thought, lived and slept for tennis,” his coaches agree.
