MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic, the boys’s world No. 1 from Serbia, has been lifting up individuals from his homeland for years, however not normally like this. On the finish of a follow session throughout final yr’s Australian Open, Djokovic walked over to a waist-high fence the place followers had been packed 10-deep to observe him and hoisted a boy from the entrance of the group over the barricade and onto the court docket.
That boy, 8-year-old Novak Pokrajac, then acquired to play a number of factors with the person for whom he was named, together with a 29-shot rally that ended with him hitting an overhead smash previous Djokovic for a winner.
Each Novaks are again at Melbourne Park this yr — Djokovic, 31, is searching for his seventh Australian Open title and 15th Grand Slam trophy, and Pokrajac, 9, is hoping to entice Djokovic right into a practice-court rematch.
For the tens of hundreds of Australians of Serbian descent, Djokovic is the secular saint of sport, worshiped by Serbs who nonetheless really feel an acute sense of persecution practically twenty years after the worst of the Balkans’ fractious ethnic violence. That was evident on Wednesday afternoon, when Djokovic hit with the Australian teenager Alexei Popyrin in entrance of a crowd that included a couple of dozen followers flying the crimson, blue and white colours of the Serbian flag.
Even throughout the 50 weeks of the yr when the Melbourne Park courts go quiet, Djokovic’s presence looms. Within the workplace off the Serbian Voice, a weekly newspaper on the western fringe of Melbourne, one wall serves as a shrine to celebrated Serbian figures from historical past: Serbian Orthodox Church figures; Vuk Karadzic, the creator of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet; Nikola Tesla, the Serbian-American inventor; and Djokovic.
For Serbia, a nation of seven million individuals, it’s “a giant deal” to have the ability to declare the top-ranked participant in males’s tennis — and among the finest ever — mentioned Zeljko Prodanovic, the newspaper’s editor.
“After the battle, it’s not really easy to say, ‘Right here we’re,’” he mentioned. “You have a look at the films, Serbs are at all times the dangerous guys. However now we will say we have now one of the best tennis participant on this planet. That makes us proud.”
The newspaper’s proprietor, Zivana Jovanovic, has welcomed a number of Serbian luminaries to her workplace in her twenty years on the helm, together with the actor Dragan Nikolic and the retired N.B.A. participant Vlade Divac. She has by no means met Djokovic however mentioned she felt as if she is aware of him due to his excessive profile. For all his fame, Jovanovic mentioned, Djokovic comes throughout as humble.
“I like that about him,” she mentioned. “He hasn’t let all his success go to his head.”
Djokovic’s celeb standing has made it onerous for him to maneuver freely in public in Melbourne, however in his youthful days he had common haunts: a church the place he would ring within the Orthodox New 12 months, or the eating places on Lygon Road, identified for its out of doors cafes and European eateries. Now, although, when Djokovic ventures out into town, as he did earlier than the match for a photograph alternative for one in every of his sponsors, he’s swarmed by admirers.
Nonetheless, Djokovic mentioned he tries to fulfill and chat with Serbs wherever he goes and invite them to observe him play.
“I suppose it nurtures the tradition and custom,” he mentioned. “Me as one of many athletes from our nation that’s internationally profitable, I really feel there’s additionally a accountability to signify the nation in a proper means. For lots of these individuals, particularly who dwell right here, they haven’t seen or been to Serbia for a very long time. So for them it’s fairly a deal with to have me enjoying right here and different tennis gamers from Serbia.”
Michael Popovic, a middle-aged Serb who emigrated from Belgrade to Melbourne in his 20s, was at Rod Laver Enviornment in 2008 when Djokovic defeated Roger Federer within the semifinals to achieve the ultimate, the place he would defeat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for his first main title.
“The sensation I had at that second was very onerous to explain,” mentioned Popovic, a restaurateur. “It was like I simply received.”
Popovic owns Mediterraneo, a restaurant on a quiet avenue in an upscale neighborhood south of town heart that focuses on steak and seafood. The restaurant additionally provides vegan and gluten-free dishes — “Due to Novak,” Popovic mentioned, referring to Djokovic’s determination a number of years in the past to overtake his food plan.
“I serve Serbian burgers with no bread crumbs,” Popovic added. “That was Novak’s affect, additionally.”
However the one Djokovic whom Popovic has served is Novak’s uncle Goran. “By some means I’ve by no means had the pleasure of getting Novak right here,” he mentioned.
That just about modified final weekend, when a big get together of Serbs — together with the professional Janko Tipsarevic, who yearly distributes match tickets to the native Serbian neighborhood via one in every of his associates — stopped in for dinner. Djokovic was supposed to hitch them, however lengthy after they’d been seated, they obtained a textual content from him saying they need to eat with out him as a result of he was caught in conferences associated to his tasks because the president of the ATP Participant Council.
“It was a pity,” Popovic mentioned. “I used to be actually hoping he would come.”
On Monday, Pokrajac, the younger fan, made positive he wouldn’t miss Djokovic, arriving at Melbourne Park together with his mom, Snezana, greater than an hour earlier than the participant was scheduled to follow. He needed to assert a main viewing spot, up in opposition to the fence once more. The evening earlier than, Pokrajac mentioned, he had imagined attending to hit once more with Djokovic, borrowing a way that has served him effectively in his matches.
“If I visualize one thing earlier than,” Pokrajac mentioned, “then it is going to occur.”
After Djokovic completed training, Pokrajac shouted, “Keep in mind me, Novak? I’m right here from Perth.”
Djokovic remembered. He came visiting, hoisted Pokrajac over the fence once more, handed him a racket, and so they started to hit. They performed 4 “factors.” The second rally was 34 photographs; the fourth ended on the 16th, when Pokrajac hit a half-volley for a winner.
His prize was a hug and a signed T-shirt from Djokovic, who additionally supplied a tip on learn how to return a slice.
“He instructed me to get decrease,” Pokrajac mentioned.
Two days later, Pokrajac staked out his similar spot. He unfurled a Serbian flag that he had signed and which he supposed to current to Djokovic as a parting reward. After his session, Djokovic came visiting and accepted the flag. He learn what Pokrajac had written: “To Novak from Novak from Perth.” Beneath his signature Pokrajac had written, “It’s going to be price gold cash” and added a smiley face.
Djokovic hugged him. As Pokrajac turned to rejoin his mom, his smile was incandescent.
“I really feel like I do know him,” Pokrajac mentioned. “I feel we’re going to be associates now.”
Ben Rothenberg contributed reporting.