Australian Open 2026: Novak Djokovic, Elina Svitolina, Damir Dzumhur & Oleksandra Oliynykova on forging careers from humble beginnings
Damir Dzumhur, a fixture in the men’s top 100 for the past decade, was born in Sarajevo in 1992, as missiles were raining down on the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina following the collapse of the former Yugoslavia.
Two days after Dzumhur and her mother were taken from the maternity ward, the hospital was bombed.
When Dzumhur was old enough to buy a racquet, there were very few courts. Most of them had been bombed.
“My first steps on the pitch were in a small school gym that was used for football and basketball, not tennis,” the world number 66 told BBC Sport. he said.
“They just put the bishop in the middle and I started playing there.
“I didn’t play on a proper hard court until I was 12 at a junior tournament in France.”
Being born in a country with no tennis history often means a lack of financial support from the federation and a scarcity of role models to follow in the game.
Hantuchova believes that players who come from humble beginnings develop a resilience, discipline and mentality that “isn’t seen very often these days”.
“When I decided that I wanted to play tennis, I asked my parents if I would have the chance to buy a racquet one day,” said Hantuchova, who described her upbringing in Bratislava as “simple”.
“I knew I had to wait until their monthly salary allowed them to do it.”
Novak Djokovic, considered by many to be the best player of all time after winning 24 major championships, broke new ground in Serbia.
As a child, Djokovic was forced to seek refuge in Belgrade due to NATO bombing of the Serbian capital between March and June 1999.
“My upbringing was a difficult time during the various wars in the ’90s,” the 38-year-old actor said in 2020.
“We had to wait in line for bread, milk, water, some of the basic things in life. That was probably my foundation, the fact that I literally came from nothing.”
