WATCH: “For you, it is 15% because you are in a hurry”- Novak Djokovic’s father Srdjan gets emotional recalling Nole’s first trip to the USA and how the loan sharks troubled their family for repayment
The Djokovic family was left humiliated by the loan shark.
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Novak Djokovic and Srdjan Djokovic. (Image via Tennis World)
World No.1 Novak Djokovic‘s father, Srdjan Djokovic opened about the rough start to his son’s career. Like most people who have achieved great feats in their fields, the Djokovic family has also seen some very tough times during the early stages of Novak’s career. Srdjan spoke in the Business Stories podcast about all the trouble he saw from the loan sharks
Srdjan Djokovic said, “The worst situations were actually borrowing money from those loan sharks. Disgusting usurers, greengrocers! Here is an example, Novak’s first trip to America when he was 15 years old together with me for the Junior Grand Slam. Since I reserved the ticket, I had to pay for it tomorrow.” He was extremely angered while recalling the grueling experience he shared with loan sharks.
According to Nole’s father, the family did not have the money for their son to make it to the Junior Grand Slam. Srdjan recalls borrowing money from a loan shark to afford Novak Djokovic the trip to the US. Novak was already the under-16 No.1 player in Europe when he qualified for the Junior US Open. However, this aspect of his career was never taken into consideration by the loan shark. Djokovic accuses the loan sharks of ripping him off in the name of interest.
While Djoker Nole might be one of the richest tennis players, he did not have quite the financial background when he was just a junior on the tour. Currently, the world no.1, a position he has held for 391 weeks for the duration of his illustrious career, holds 24 Grand Slam titles. The most in the Open Era.
Srdjan Djokovic talks about the ruthless demands of loan shark
Novak Djokovic’s father, Srdjan Djokovic has talked about how loan sharks were completely inconsiderate with their interest rates. He revealed an anecdote from the earlier years of the World No.1 tennis player’s life.
“Together with another, I went to that greengrocer and he asked me what, so I explained to him. At that moment, Novak was the first under-16 player in Europe. The greengrocer asked me if I was in a hurry, I said I have to pay for the tickets tomorrow because they will fail me,” said the Serb. He admitted that the loan shark took to their advantage the fact that the Djokovic family was in a hurry.
Srdjan Djokovic went to the loan shark to borrow $5000 for two months. However, he was met with the most frustrating response. According to World No.1’s father, the loan shark, “For me, the interest rate is 12% per month, but for you, it is 15% because you are in a hurry.” Such was the financial struggle the Djokovic family had to face in order to get Novak to where he is right now.
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Ramya Rangarajan
(267 Articles Published)