Novak Djokovic wasn't the only Serbian tennis player to experience the war at the end of 90s in Yugoslavia from March to June 1999, a period when Serbia was bombarded by NATO.
The world no. 97 Dusan Lajovic was nine years old when all this happened, and interviewed by Break Point Brasil he said something very interesting. 'It was difficult, I am 26 and went through two wars. It's not something I am proud of, but you move on. It shows the life is much bigger than tennis.
'During that period I didn't play many events outside Serbia. But I remember we didn't go to school for 78 days. We were kids, at the beginning we didn't understand what was happening.
'Bad memories are still in Lajovic's mind: 'I still get chills when I remember the sirens, the bombs going off and everyone who was seeking refuge.'
Despite the war, Serbia was able to produce great players like Janko Tipsarevic, world no. 8 in 2011, Victor Troicki and in the WTA Tour, two former world no. 1's Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic.
According to Lajovic, going through a such hard thing is the secret of Serbian tennis players' mentality, especially Djokovic. 'After a war the country was destroyed and I think all this made us stronger in tennis. That's why Novak is so strong, because of what he went through in the past I think.'
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