The Novak Djokovic foundation displays a different facet of the Serbian star. A champion on the court, the Serb has a golden heart off the court.
His foundation, which he runs in tandem with his wife Jelena Djokovic, has great philanthropic ambitions. It works for the early school education of Serbian children. The initiative is close to the heart of Novak as he has the first-hand experience of growing up in an unstable Serbian society.
This is a part of the letter that Novak wrote as he laid the foundation of the organization –
“I’m coming from a war torn country, a place where many kids do not dare to dream big. I was blessed to have the support of my whole family while growing up. They believed in me and dreamed with me. Because of their trust, love and support, and all the hard work invested, I made my biggest dream come true. I’ve become one of the bestbesr tennis players in the world.”
What Inspired The Novak Djokovic Foundation?
There are currently 1,80,000 three-year-old children in Serbia. However, every one in two children doesn’t have access to preschool education. In addition, there are 2500 locations in Serbia without preschool infrastructure. This leaves at least 90000 children at an advantage.
Based on these discrepancies, the Novak Djokovic Foundation was founded in 2007.
The organization has a smart pattern of working. It only invests in projects that it views as sustainable for a longer period. In developing countries, top-down approaches usually don’t work. This means that it becomes important to diffuse into the local communities through certain contact points.
The website of the foundation reveals that they take a collaborative approach. This entails working alongside local authorities to train and empower teachers. In addition, self-sustaining schools and programs help children realize their dreams.
Major programs include School adaptations, teacher support and development programs.
What Does The Foundation Mean To Djokovic?
“While I’m still young and have a lot of people’s attention, I want to start building my philanthropic legacy. I want to share the focus that is on me with the work my foundation does and help as many kids in Serbia as possible. Through education, they too can be part of our collective effort to decrease poverty and social exclusion.”- Novak Djokovic.
This clearly shows that the foundation is a part of Novak’s larger plan to leave behind a legacy. It comes from a point of wanting to do something for your community. We commend Novak Djokovic for his efforts.
ATP Rankings: Novak Djokovic moves closer to Pete Sampras and Roger Federer
With three ATP 250 events in the week behind us, there were not enough points up for grabs to make changes in the top-20, with most of players taking some well-deserved rest following a grueling action down under in January.
The ATP Cup and the Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic is still the player to beat, kicking off his 277th week as world no. 1 and moving only nine behind Pete Sampras who stands on 286. Novak took some time off and enjoyed the vacation with his family, visiting Italy and Serbia ahead of the Dubai trip in a couple of weeks.
Rafael Nadal is celebrating the 600th week in the top-3, becoming only the second player to achieve that after Roger Federer and spending some exciting time in Kuwait and South Africa in the previous week, competing against Roger Federer at the Cape Town Stadium in front of the crowd of almost 52,000, setting the world attendance record at one tennis match.
Roger Federer is still in the top-3, less than 100 points ahead of Dominic Thiem who has skipped this week’s ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires and take more rest before Rio de Janeiro where he will chase 500 points and the place in the top-3 for the first time in a career.
Daniil Medvedev is over 1000 points behind the Australian Open finalist, hoping to reduce that gap this week in Rotterdam, leading the field at the first ATP 500 tournament of the season. World no. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas is also in Rotterdam, seeking the first title of the season and to increase the lead over Alexander Zverev who should be back in action in Acapulco.
Matteo Berrettini had to withdraw from Buenos Aires, staying eighth on the list but with the same number of points as Gael Monfils who claimed the title in Montpellier, beating Vasek Pospisil in the final. David Goffin completes the top-10 group ahead of Fabio Fognini, Roberto Bautista Agut and Stan Wawrinka.
Diego Schwartzman lost in the final in Cordoba, wasting the opportunity to move in front of the Swiss and become world no. 13, with another chance waiting for him in Buenos Aires. Everything else remained the same in the top-20, with more shifts and changes coming in the next couple of weeks when all the players return to the court.
Guido Pella lost five positions, passed by that many rivals, including Cristian Garin who lifted the third ATP crown in Cordoba for a career-high ranking. Failing to defend the title in Montpellier, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga dropped out from the top-40, followed by Cordoba winner Juan Ignacio Londero who had to give away 19 positions on the list.
Pune finalists Egor Gerasimov and Jiri Vesely (the first ATP title since Auckland 2015) are on the verge of the top-70 now, earning 19 and 35 spots on the list, respectively.
