Novak Djokovic’s Negligence Towards Prized Possession Turns Costly as Political Friend Takes Control of Property

With each passing day, troubles seem to be mounting more and more for Novak Djokovic. After a glorious 2023 season, the Serb has seen a massive drop in his form as he is yet to win a title this year. Additionally, his fitness issues have made matters worse for him. During the recently-concluded French Open, he suffered a knee injury due to which his participation remains doubtful for the Wimbledon Championships. Not just on the court, he is also facing troubles off the court.

Last year, the Serb closed his tennis complex in Belgrade. His decision came 15 years after the city allowed him to open his tennis center despite the fact that there was already another institution in the city. While the reason behind Djokovic’s decision is unknown, it was speculated that the Serb was planning an upgrade of his center, with a bigger size and better facilities.

However, the center that Djokovic gave back to the city last year has been revived, with his politician friend and former tennis player, Janko Tipsarevic stepping in. The latter has started his own academy at this location, which is the third complex that Tipsarevic now has in Belgrade. Additionally, he also has academies in various countries like India and Mexico.

Last year, Tipsarevic joined Serbia’s ruling party, years after calling time on his career. Subsequently, his influence has grown and his takeover of Djokovic’s tennis complex is one sign of that. Meanwhile, Djokovic once reasoned out why he let go of his tennis complex in Belgrade.

How an ATP Tournament forced Novak Djokovic to let go of his tennis complex

The Serb’s dream was to host an ATP tournament on his compound. While it did host an ATP 250 tournament once, Djokovic decided to upgrade his facility so that they could apply for an ATP 500 license. Initially, they had leased the license from owner Ion Tiriac, who refused to sell it later.

Explaining why he let go of his complex, Djokovic mentioned to Sport Klub, “First of all, I must say that the licence is not ours. We leased it from its owner Ion Tiriac and now he wants it back. We wanted to buy the license, to host the tournament in Serbia for many years to come, because we were successful.”

However, Djokovic’s dream was crushed as the Romanian tennis legend and business refused to sell it. As a result, Djokovic wasn’t able to host the tournament at his complex and decided to forego his property.

He further added, “Many people in the stands, ATP gave us excellent grades for all the efforts, but there is not much we can do when the owner doesn’t want to sell the license. We have to respect that.”

While Djokovic’s academy has been taken over by Tipsarevic, the former would be keen to regain the hosting rights for the Serbia Open in the future. As he has done on the court, Djokovic will look to emerge from this setback and come back stronger than ever.