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    August 24, 2011

Tennis Star Novak Djokovic Unites Divided Serbia

   Henry Ridgwell | Belgrade, Serbia
   Serbia's Novak Djokovic hits a backhand return against Tomas Berdych,
   from the Czech Republic, during a semifinal match at the Western &
   Southern Open tennis tournament in Mason, Ohio, August 20, 2011
   Serbia's Novak Djokovic hits a backhand return against Tomas Berdych,
   from the Czech Republic, during a semifinal match at the Western &
   Southern Open tennis tournament in Mason, Ohio, August 20, 2011

   Serbians weary of seeing the world's media focus on their country's
   recent wartime past are uniting in praise of a new national hero, Novak
   Djokovic. Djokovic trained as a young boy amid the chaotic breakup of
   Yugoslavia, rising to become world tennis number one and favorite for
   the U.S. Open. But the recent arrest of two former wartime generals has
   provided another reminder of the conflicts that tore the Balkans apart
   in the 1990s.
   Tennis coach Jelena Gencic is putting two young players through their
   drills at a rundown court on the edge of Belgrade. Gencic lived through
   seven decades of her country's turbulent history. She is hailed as the
   person who discovered Serbia's biggest sporting star. Gencic describes
   the moment they first met.
   'I saw one little boy just behind the fence, watching, watching,
   watching all morning," said Gencic. "I come to him and ask him, 'OK
   boy, do you know what we are doing here?' 'Yes, I know. You play
   tennis.' 'Oh. What's your name?' 'Novak Djokovic.' Very clear. Very
   strong.'

   Djokovic's image adorns buildings in Belgrade. His every match is
   watched avidly in sidewalk cafes. It was not an easy route to become
   number one in the world.
   Just as Djokovic was discovering his talent for tennis in the early
   1990's, Yugoslavia began its bloody breakup. His teenage training years
   took place against the backdrop of the Kosovo conflict and NATO bombing
   raids on Belgrade.
   Coach Gencic describes how she dodged the bombs to keep Djokovic
   playing tennis.
   'I listened to the radio. 'There's a bomb here in Banitsa.' OK, next
   day, we shall play here. 'No! Why here?' Because tomorrow the bombs
   will hit another side of the city," she said. "That's what happened.
   When I listened in the morning to where the bombs were, so we would go
   in that part of Belgrade to practice tennis.'
   As Djokovic's triumphs put Serbian tennis on the map, the country has
   been in the spotlight for very different reasons.
   The arrest in May of former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Maldic and in
   July of former Croatian Serb general Goran Hadzic have been painful
   reminders of the country's brutal past. Both are accused of committing
   war crimes during the Balkans conflict.
   Ljiljiana Smajlovic is president of the Serbian Journalists'
   Association. She said there is anger at the way Serbia is simplified in
   the world's media.
   'In the sense that Djokovic is someone that we look up to and we're
   happy that the world sees us in a better context than it has in the
   past, and at the same time there is resentment... Mostly when people
   think of Serb war crimes, I think it's in terms of the resentment that
   they are played up so much in the West and it's not in terms of, 'God,
   are we going to face up to our past?'' said Smajlovic.
   The arrests of Mladic and Hadzic were meant to boost Serbia's hopes of
   joining the European Union. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned
   Belgrade, however, that it needs to make progress in talks with Kosovo,
   which declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
   Smaljovic said Serbs are growing tired of EU demands.
   'I see some trouble ahead in this lack of hope almost. This feeling
   that we're being told there's no alternative all the time. Hearing that
   there's no alternative is not something that makes your heart grow
   fond," she said. "Because transition has been, for the most part, that
   you lose your job and then you never find a job as good as that one.'
   Belgrade does not seem like a city stuck in its past. The annual beer
   festival is just one of many events to have emerged in the last decade
   that attract visitors from across the globe.
   But the lack of interest among young people in Serbia's recent history
   concerns Miljenko Dereta, director of the non-governmental
   organization, Civic Initiatives.
   'We had a survey recently because we have a youth program, and we were
   shocked by the lack of information they have," said Dereta. "They
   didn't know there was a war in Bosnia, incredibly. They didn't
   understand why the Hague tribunal is judging only the people from this
   region because they didn't have the basic information it was formed for
   this region.'
   Back at the tennis club on the outskirts of Belgrade, Gencic is
   mentoring the next generation of Serbian stars.
   At 12 years old, they were only just born when the NATO bombs were
   falling on Belgrade. They have one aim - to emulate their hero.
   'Novak Djokovic,' said one young player when asked which player
   inspires.
   'Novak Djokovic,' replied another.
   Like millions of people across Serbia, they will be following every
   step of Djokovic's attempts to win his first U.S. Open title. He is the
   one person, it seems, who unites this country - the new face of Serbia.