Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic (Serbian: Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković pronounced [nɔ̝ʋak ʥɔːkɔ̝ʋiʨ] (born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player ranked World No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

He has won two Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open championships, becoming the first player representing Serbia to win a Grand Slam singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam events, separately and consecutively. He is also one of only four players (David Nalbandian, Andy Murray, and Rafael Nadal being the other 3) to beat Roger Federer 3 times in one calendar year. He is also one of three players (Nalbandian and Nikolay Davydenko being the other 2) to beat Federer and Nadal in the same tournament twice, accomplishing that feat when he won the 2011 Indian Wells Masters 1000 event.

He is also the youngest player in the Open Era to defeat the top three players in succession and he achieved this when he defeated world number 3 Andy Roddick, world number 2 Nadal, and World number 1 Federer in the 2007 Rogers Cup. He is one of only two players to have defeated Federer at the semifinal stage or later on more than one occasion in Grand Slam tournaments, and also at consecutive tournaments (the other being Nadal).

Ðoković was the runner-up at the 2007 and 2010 US Open tournaments (to Federer and Nadal, respectively), and a bronze medalist representing Serbia at the 2008 Olympic Games. In addition, Ðoković won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008 and has won nine Masters Series tournaments. In 2010, he led Serbia to win the Davis Cup. Ðoković finished the ATP Tour as World No. 3 for four consecutive years between 2007 and 2010.

From the 2010 Davis Cup finals to the 2011 French Open, Ðoković had a 43-match win streak, third only to Guillermo Vilas (46 matches in 1977) and Ivan Lendl (44 matches in 1981/1982). This includes titles at the Australian Open, Dubai, Indian Wells Masters, Miami Masters, Serbia Open, Madrid Masters, and the Rome Masters. He won 41 straight matches from the start of 2011 until the French Open semi-finals (where he was beaten by Roger Federer), second only to John McEnroe's record (he started 42–0 in 1984). Djokovic also holds the record of the best start of a season with a winning streak of 41 matches.

Djokovic's emergence as a serious challenger to both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal has led to the coining of a new sporting term: the trivalry. He is also considered the best male tennis player to come out of Serbia and the former Yugoslavia. Ðoković is also a double winner of the award The Best Sportperson of Serbia and award for The Best Sportsman by Olympic Committee of Serbia. He has been awarded with the Order of St. Sava, the highest decoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Novak Djokovic Photos

Novak Djokovic Photos

Novak Djokovic Photos

Novak Djokovic Photos

Novak Djokovic Photos

Novak Djokovic Photos

Novak Djokovic Photos

Novak Djokovic Photos

People with Long Names List, Part 2

The last time we featured a People with Long Names List on this blog was April 25 and the names were women's. Today, we go with the men (a women's list is on "The Daily Vampire"). Of course, since my name is (mr) Tilly Gokbudak, I could be on this list as much as these guys.

Here it is, and hopefully everyone's name is spelled correctly!:

1. Novak Djokovic- This 24-year-old Serbian tennis star is the current Wimbledon champion. His countrymen Srdjan Spasojevic, who directed the 2010 shock horror film called "A Serbian Film" (yes, that is the actually name of the film) is longer and harder, but more people are familiar with Novak---yeah, we skipped his last name on purpose!

2. Florian Henckel von Donnersmack- The German director who first gained acclaim with the Oscar-winning film "The Lives of Other" went mainstream last year with the American box office hit "The Tourist" with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. Even PBS talk show host Charlie Rose had trouble pronouncing his arduous last name.

3. Kemal Kilicdaroglu- This Turkish politician who leads the country's center-left People's Republic Party is trying to regain political power from Prime Minister Recep Tayypid Erdogan's conservative AK Party.

4. Nofis Sfakianakis- Of course, whenever you include the name of a Turk, you have to include the name of a Greek, especially if you are a Turk! This pop singer is among the most popular singers ever in Greece.

5. Banjong Pisanthanakun- This horror film director from Thailand has a surname which is quite scary!

6. Gary Shteyngart- The Russian-American author of the great novel "Absurdistan" was going to be on our initial list, but we somehow forgot all about him!

7. Sorunas Marciulionis- A retired Lithunian basketball who was an NBA star must have caused problems for the people putting his name on the jerseys.

8. Alexei Popogrebsky- This Russian filmmaker's 2010 film "How I Ended This Summer" which was acclaimed in art cinema circles is now out on dvd in the United States. (Whoops! We initially spelled his name Poporgrebsky!).

9. Parahamsa Nithyananda- This man is a spiritual guru in India; we initially didn't get his name right either!

10. Alejandro Yemenidjian- This Argentinian-Armenian is the current head of MGM studios. I suppose if he ever goes to a Beverly Hills restaurant with Mark Zuckerberg, he lets the kid pick up the tab!