Talent alone isn’t enough to succeed in tennis. Discipline, hard work, and a strong support system are just as important. For Nikola Gnjatovic, a promising player from Belgrade—hometown of Novak Djokovic—addiction ultimately derailed a once-promising career.
Gnjatovic was born on September 15, 1979, in Belgrade, then the capital of Yugoslavia and now Serbia. As a child, he became interested in tennis and had the support of his family. His results came early, and many believed he could be the best player of the next generation.
However, his rise was cut short, and he never fulfilled his potential. Notably, he belongs to the same generation as Ivo Karlovic and Ivan Ljubicic, and is just a year older than Marat Safin and two years older than Roger Federer.
His beginnings in tennis
In 2023, Nikola Gnjatovic spoke to Serbian outlet Sportal and shared how he got his start in tennis and who he faced: “Dragan Serer, my first coach, suggested I go to the Porec tournament. It was a bold decision because I won that tournament, and that led Goran Bubanj to bring me to Partizan. There, I became national champion under the age of 10, ahead of players like Ivo Karlovic and Ivan Ljubicic.”
He added: “Until I was 18, I was Serbian champion in every age category and beat Nenad Zimonjic in training, even though he was three years older than me. But at Partizan, they didn’t help me get a professional contract, so I moved to Red Star and became the Serbian U18 champion at just 16.”
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Davis Cup and a win over Federer in a practice match
Now 45 years old, Gnjatovic recalled his time with the Yugoslav Davis Cup team:
“I played for Serbia in the Davis Cup against Turkey and Morocco alongside Tipsarevic, Vemic, and Tosic. I became Jelena Jankovic’s hitting partner and signed a contract with Head, which also sponsored Goran Ivanisevic.”
Roger Federer as a junior (Getty Images)
He also reflected on training with Roger Federer. “Before that, I had beaten Marat Safin and Fernando González as a junior and even defeated Roger Federer in a practice match.” It’s worth noting Gnjatovic was born in 1979, while Safin and González were born in 1980 and Federer in 1981.
Drugs ruined his career
“I got an offer to coach at Prohema Club in Brcko, Bosnia. I worked there with a colleague and friend who was a drug addict, though I didn’t know it at the time. I tried heroin for the first time when I was 21. That’s when my nightmare began. I went into debt, got hooked on drugs, and started stealing to feed my addiction,” Gnjatovic recounted.
He continued: “I tried to keep playing tennis, but I couldn’t. My family was falling apart, and my life was a complete mess. I was hospitalized more than ten times. I spent 17 years living through every horror that comes with drug addiction. If it weren’t for heroin, I could have been another Novak Djokovic.”
A stigma he can’t escape
Nikola Gnjatovic feels the stigma of his past continues to haunt him and speaks about it candidly: “Many former players and colleagues tell the parents of kids I coach that I’m a former drug addict and shouldn’t be trusted with their children. But I’ve never, not even at my lowest, dealt drugs or given them to any child. I’d rather cut off my hand than do that!”
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“I’ve never forgotten tennis. I know how to spot talent in a kid, and unlike 90 percent of coaches, if I see a child doesn’t have the talent for tennis, I tell their parents the truth, I don’t lie to them,” the former Serbian tennis player concluded.
