Novak Djokovic Reveals the 3 Keys to His Lasting Marriage to Childhood Sweetheart Jelena

The tennis legend married his high school love in 2014

The love of Novak Djokovic’s life is also his first.

Djokovic, 39, and his wife, Jelena, 40, met as high schoolers in Serbia. After he relocated to Monte Carlo to train as a professional tennis player, the two reconnected while Jelena studied abroad in Italy. Eventually, they moved in together, and the rest is history: The couple tied the knot in 2014 and have welcomed two kids: son Stefan, 12, and daughter Tara, 8. 

As the tennis superstar prepares to give a never-before-seen glimpse into his private world in his new Prime Video documentary Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter (out Thursday, Aug. 20), he opens up to PEOPLE in this week’s issue about what makes his decades-long romance with Jelena work.

“First and foremost, she’s the only serious relationship I ever had,” Djokovic says. “She’s been my girlfriend, fiancée and my wife for more than 20 years, and I’m eternally grateful for her love, her support, the relationship that has evolved over the years.”

He adds, “As with any other relationship, it takes sacrifice. It takes a lot of compromise as well, and to grow together.”

Djokovic sums up the success of their love in three words: “Communication, honesty, transparency.”

“You have to communicate when something is not feeling right. The more you keep it inside, the more the monster grows,” he explains. “When it surfaces, it not only surfaces that very thing that bothered you, but a few other things as well. You kind of bring the ghost from the past, and then it’s a downward spiral. I’m speaking from personal experience, obviously.”

Like every couple, they have their “trials and tribulations,” Djokovic says, but they always remind themselves of the love they have built together. 

The 24-time Grand Slam winner credits Jelena for being his “rock” throughout his career and for holding the family down while he travels on tour.

“She was keeping the household together, nurturing our children and helping them also overcome — as they’ve grown older — the absence of their father, which is something that hurts me the most, even these days,” he confesses.

Djokovic continues, “When you leave your kids and your wife, I think it’s not a cliché [to say] it’s actually very painful. But you do your work, and you try to do the best that you can. When you come back home, you try to be as present as you possibly can.”

Occasionally, Stefan and Tara fly out to major tournaments with Jelena to cheer on their father. At the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, Stefan was photographed hitting on the practice court with Djokovic. On whether he would encourage Stefan if he had professional ambitions, Djokovic says, “Absolutely.”

However, his main priority is to raise him, not coach him.

“I primarily want him to be happy, to be healthy. I want to be his father,” he says. “It’s not easy, obviously, being who I am in the tennis world. … There’s always a curiosity whether he’s going to be pursuing the same journey, but it’s not the same journey. It’s his journey.”

Via: People