Who is Novak Djokovic’s wife, Jelena? How did they meet, children, biography, charity work
Jelena Djokovic is one of the household names when it comes to the significant others of famous tennis players as she is the wife of one Novak Djokovic.
She started dating the 21-time Grand Slam winner before he won his first major and nearly two decades later they are still happily married.
According to Jelena’s official LinkedIn profile, she describes herself as: “Highly motivated professional, eager to inspire the others, too. Hard core education fan → excited to constantly learn new things, pass them on, and apply them in practice.
“Passionate about branding, strategy development, entrepreneurship, kids, books, writing, students, healthy nutrition, animals, sports.”
Jelena’s Early Life And Education
Jelena Ristic was born on 17 June 1986 to Miomir and Vera Ristic in Belgrade and she spent her childhood and early teenage years in the Serbian capital. She has an older sister named Marija, who also works for the Novak Djokovic Foundation.
Jelena’s dream had always been to study abroad, but finances were tight and as a result she made sure her grades were “the very best” to win scholarships.
“From the youngest age I contemplated going to university abroad,” she is quoted as saying Hello! “That entailed me being the very best student in elementary and high school, in order to win scholarships.
“My parents were in no position financially to fund (my) education in a foreign country.”
In 2005 she finally realised her dream as she enrolled at the Università Bocconi in Milan and in 2008 she obtained a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management.
Two years later she was back studying as she furthered her education at the International University of Monaco, earning her master’s degree in 2011 in luxury goods and services with her final thesis on the “Importance of social media activities for fashion brands”.
How Did Novak Djokovic And Jelena Meet?
Jelena met Novak long before he became a global tennis superstar as they first became acquainted when they attended the same high school in Belgrade.
They officially started dating in 2005 – two years after Novak turned professional and just before he truly started to really make a name for himself – and she soon became a permanent fixture at his tennis matches as she started travelling with him around the globe.
When Did They Get Married?
Novak and Jelena became engaged in September 2013 and they got married on 10 July 2014 – just days after Novak defeated Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final to win his second title at SW19 and his seventh Grand Slam.
They tied the knot in the Church of Saint Stephen with the wedding ceremony taking place at the 5-star Aman Sveti Stefan resort which is situated on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro.
In case you were wondering the bride wore a gown designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen and about 100 guests attended the big day.
How Many Children Do Novak And Jelena Have?
In her biography on the official Jelena Djokovic website, she reveals: “I am also a mother of two little kids. I’m also a mother of two dogs: white toy poodle Pierre and a brown toy poodle named Tesla. I am married to a wonderful human being, Novak, who happens to be known to many people around the world as one of the best tennis players of all time.”
Stefan was born in October 2014 and he looks set to follow in his father’s footsteps as he has taken up tennis while Tara was born in September 2017.
Jelena Djokovic’s Career
Jelena is the co-founder and global CEO at the Novak Djokovic Foundation, but her official LinkedIn profile states that she started her career in 2009 as the Human Resources Coordinator at Tamoil SAM (a European energy provider).
In 2011 she founded the Monaco-based Jelena Ristic Consulting, which provides services such as brand identity, brand development and digital marketing.
She has also done some modeling work as in 2013 she was the face of lingerie and swimwear brand Figleaves.
She is also the founder of Original Magazine, which is described as a “platform that unites like-minded people who seek knowledge, inspiration and want to go through life and business by following values of honesty, integrity, respect, and love”.
Since 2015, the magazine has done interviews with the likes of Anna Wintour (Editor in Chief of American Vogue), Grand Slam champion Boris Becker, Kevin Systrom (co-founder and CEO of Instagram) and Sir Richard Branson (founder of the Virgin Group).
But her most important role to date has been her work with the Novak Djokovic Foundation, which helps underprivileged children and also helps to improve the education system in Serbia as well as other countries.
Jelena Djokovic Charity And Humanitarian Work
The Novak Djokovic Foundation described in Jelena Djokovic’s own words: “I run our charity foundation that is focused on empowering families and future leaders of the society by investing in quality early childhood education and development, which covers the period between the birth of a child all up to 8 years of age.
“In order to support the development of kids during this stage of life, my team and I are opening and renovating kindergartens and outdoor spaces, training teachers, buying materials for working with children, organizing support groups for parents and investing in research and studies of this particular stage of development.
“All of our work is mainly focused in Serbia, but we have supported many different organizations worldwide too such as Australia, Miami, Croatia, and Bosnia, whose missions are aligned with ours.”