Novak Djokovic's relationship with wife Jelena and his sad confession about their life

Novak Djokovic has his sights set on a record-extending 25th grand slam at theUS Open. The world No. 7 has made it to the semi-finals of each of the three other Grand Slams this year but hasn't clinched a major since the US Open in 2023 – a drought he's hoping to end at Flushing Meadows.

Cheering him on, as ever, will be his wife Jelenaand their two children, Stefan, 10, and Tara, 7. Djokovic started dating his childhood sweetheart when he was just 18 and they married several years later in July 2014.

He's often spoken about the hugely positive influence Jelena has had on his life both on and off the court. But despite her unwavering support for the 24-time Grand Slam winner, the couple have also been honest about the challenges they've faced due to his intense personality, which is required to thrive at the elite level.

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In a previous on-court interview, Djokovic likened himself to a "wolf", explaining that being in a relationship with him can be very demanding. "It can be very stressful to run with the wolf. I know that she doesn't enjoy it at all times. It's kind of living on the edge with the wolf," Djokovic confessed.

The 38-year-old said he "carries" wolf traits within him, something his wife struggles with at times, but claimed it is "useful energy". "That dynamic energy sometimes turns into a roar or an outburst," he said.

Jelena has also shared her own thoughts on being married to one of the most successful sportspeople in the world. She explained that giving up her privacy and gaining fame brings its own set of challenges.

"We look at public figures and think that kind of publicity is okay," she said. "But as time goes on, you lack anonymity, you lack the privacy to be able to do whatever you like at any time, in any situation. I try to resist all these expectations to always be myself and for Novak to be able to be himself."

But Djokovic has been forced to adapt to make their relationship work, having revealed that during his childhood in Serbia, his father encouraged him never to display emotions or cry in an effort to appear strong. That meant he initially struggled to open up emotionally to his girlfriend and later, his wife.

“Basically, she’s the only very serious relationship that I’ve ever had,” he once said. “She’s my rock. She’s someone that has seen the worst and the best sides of me. She has seen my evolution. She has challenged me on every level. We have grown together, and we have two beautiful children, and we still keep on growing and evolving.

“She has been an incredible partner in this whole journey, professionally, privately, emotionally, romantically, as a parent as well. So I still play at this level because also of the support that she’s giving to our family back home. And I remind myself of that a lot.”

In 2017, amid ongoing elbow issues, Djokovic announced he was taking the rest of the year off following a quarter-final defeat at Wimbledon. The next year, when Djokovic returned to action after elbow surgery early in the season, he struggled to get back to his previous form, suffering early defeats in both Indian Wells and Miami.

As Jelena recalled in a 2020 interview with Graham Bensinger, after losing in Miami, Djokovic told her and the rest of his team that he was done with tennis. He didn’t know for how long but wanted his team to warn sponsors that there was no guarantee he would ever return to the court. However, Jelena was able to change his mind.

She said: “He didn’t want to play tennis and he didn’t even want to see a ball pass in front of him. He didn’t want to know anything about it. But I love tennis and I take the kids to the court every day. On the third day Novak arrived. He saw that we were having fun and that it wasn’t a workout like what he had been used to for years. Novak asked me if he could play and get a racket, but I refused.

“I started teasing him and told him that he had given up. That it was our turn to play tennis. In the end he served and said that he felt good, then he came back every day to finally call his coach Marian Vajda and ask him to resume training.”

Since then, Djokovic has claimed 12 Grand Slams, doubling the tally he managed before considering retirement. Jelena has also publicly defended her husband on numerous occasions, such as during the Covid-19 vaccine controversy and when he was accused of consuming a 'magic potion' during the Paris Mastersin November 2022.