When Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer to win the Wimbledon 2014 championship, he was overcome by emotions. Before he could begin his center court address to the audience, tears had choked his voice. When he recovered, he first congratulated Roger Federer, saying that the great Swiss is a magnificent champion and an ideal role model. Djokovic added that he respected Federer’s tennis career in which he won the coveted Wimbledon Trophy 7 times. Speaking to the crowd, he said that he was grateful to his team members and the coaches, who sacrificed their time for his sake. Djokovic finally ended his little speech in which he dedicated his victory to his future wife Jelena Ristic and the baby, who would be born later this year. Four days later, he got married and the future became present.
Last year in Monte Carlo, Djokovic proposed to his longtime girlfriend, whom he met as a high school student and the two have been living together for the past eight years. With no major tennis fixtures due after Wimbledon, the champion tennis star could not have chosen a better time for slotting his wedding. In the men’s world tour circuit following Wimbledon, there are a number of ATP 250 events and a couple of ATP 500 in the whole of July 2014. In the three currently ongoing tournaments at Germany (Mercedes Cup Stuttgart), Sweden (Skistar Cup Bastad) and USA (Hall-o-Fame, Newport), the highest world ranked player is David Ferrer playing at Bastad and others with him being Robredo, Verdasco and Berlocq. Incidentally, Ferrer has already lost to Berlocq in the semifinal. Other ranked players participating in these events are; Fabio Fognini, Youzhny, Kohlschreiber, Lopez and Bautista Agut at Stuttgart and John Isner, Karlovic and Hewitt at Newport. Therefore it is not until the Rogers Cup in Montreal that Djokovic will miss anything major and since that tournament begins on August 04, he has plenty of free time on his hands.
Jelena Ristic has been a constant fixture in Djokovic’s box since the two of them became dating each other. Unlike star wives and girlfriends, Ristic has been openly demonstrative, when her beau is playing.
Novak Jokovic’s marriage with Ristic took place at the upmarket Adriatic resort in a park above a beach. The couple chose the location for keeping the civil ceremony out of the reach for media and the guest list was trimmed to include only close friends, relatives and 100 guets. The picturesque and luxurious Montenegro islet Sveti Stefan is frequented by the rich and famous and Djokovic wanted the event to be as anonymous as possible.Among the guests, who graced the occasion were; Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova, Djokovic’s coach Marjan Vajda and his wife with Serbian fellow tennis players Viktor Troicki, Nenad Zimonjic and Janko Tipsarevic. As per reports, the couple rented the entire islet resort, which, in reality, is a fortified village constructed in the 15th century for the purpose of lending privacy to its privileged visitors. During sixties and seventies, international film celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Orson Welles and Kirk Douglas made frequent visits to islet to find solace from their hectic routine. For his wedding, Djokovic insisted on obtaining signed affidavits of secrecy from the resort employees, who were not allowed to use their cell-phones. While the civil ceremony ended with a great success, a religious ceremony is due to take place on Saturday. Four days back at Wimbledon, despite the revelation of his wedding, Djokovic did not indicate that the event was planned immediately after the year’s third Grand Slam.
