Dejan Petrović (Serbian Cyrillic: Дејан Петровић; born 3 April 1978) is an Australian-born Serbian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. He played Davis Cup for Serbia and Montenegro.

Dejan Petrović
Country (sports) Australia
(until 2003)
 Serbia and Montenegro
(2003–2006)
 Serbia
(from 2006)
ResidenceKragujevac, Serbia
Born (1978-04-03) 3 April 1978 (age 45)
Adelaide, Australia
PlaysRight-handed
Prize moneyUS$165,819
Singles
Career record2–6 (25.0%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 157 (7 August 2000)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (2000, 2001)
Wimbledon1R (2000)
Doubles
Career record5–8 (38.5%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 116 (15 July 2002)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (1999, 2002)
Wimbledon2R (2002)
US Open1R (2001)
Coaching career (2003–)

Career edit

Petrović made his Grand Slam debut in the 1998 Australian Open, partnering Grant Silcock in the doubles. They were eliminated in the opening round but made it into the second round a year later, at the 1999 Australian Open. In 2002 he reached the second round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, partnering Todd Perry and then David Škoch.[1]

As a singles player, Petrović made two Australian Open appearances and played once at Wimbledon, but didn't win a match in either event. He lost four set matches to Leander Paes and Sargis Sargsian in the Australian Opens and lost in straight sets to Martin Damm at Wimbledon.[2]

He was a wildcard entrant in the 2000 AAPT Championships, held in his hometown, Adelaide. After defeating Frenchman Stéphane Huet, Petrović was beaten comfortably by another local, Lleyton Hewitt, who courted controversy when he called the crowd "stupid" for not cheering for him.

Petrović relocated in 2003 to Serbia, where his sister and parents lived.[3] He immediately represented his new country in the Davis Cup, playing doubles with Nenad Zimonjić. The pair would play three matches together in total, winning two of them.[4]

He is now running a tennis academy in the Serbian city of Kragujevac. The most successful player that he has coached is Novak Djokovic, who first starting working with Petrović at the age of 16. Under the mentoring of Petrović, Djokovic went from being ranked outside the top 300 to breaking into the top 100 in less than a year.[5]

Petrović coached Ana Ivanovic until 2015.[6]

Challenger titles edit

Doubles: (8) edit

No. Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
1. 2000 Manchester Challenger,
Manchester, Great Britain
Grass   Andy Ram   Yves Allegro
  Ivo Heuberger
6–2, 7–6(7–1)
2. 2000 Córdoba Challenger,
Córdoba, Spain
Hard   Andy Ram   Óscar Burrieza
  Daniel Melo
6–1, 6–4
3. 2000 Sofia Challenger,
Sofia, Bulgaria
Clay   Orlin Stanoytchev   Radoslav Lukaev
  Luben Pampoulov
6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5)
4. 2001 MasterCard Tennis Cup,
Campos do Jordão, Brazil
Hard   Andy Ram   Adriano Ferreira
  Daniel Melo
6–3, 6–4
5. 2001 Belo Horizonte Challenger,
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Hard   Andy Ram   Barry Cowan
  Eric Taino
6–3, 6–4
6. 2001 Gramado Challenger,
Gramado, Brazil
Hard   Andy Ram   Adriano Ferreira
  Daniel Melo
6–4, 6–4
7. 2002 Bristol Challenger,
Bristol, Great Britain
Grass   Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi   Daniele Bracciali
  Gianluca Pozzi
6–3, 6–2
8. 2002 Gramado Challenger,
Gramado, Brazil
Hard   Alessandro Guevara   Denis Golovanov
  Michael Joyce
3–6, 7–5, 6–2

References edit

  1. ^ ITF Tennis profile
  2. ^ ATP World Tour profile
  3. ^ Daily Telegraph, "The hunger of Serbia's tennis elite is a lesson for us all ", Leo Schlink, 15 January 2012.
  4. ^ Davis Cup profile
  5. ^ Weekly Times Messenger, "Djokovic discoverer is Woodville bound" Archived 5 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Kym Morgan, 2 November 2011.
  6. ^ Nguyen, Courtney (19 July 2014). "Ana Ivanovic appoints new coach Dejan Petrovic". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 21 September 2014.

External links edit