Growing the Serbian Brand

Many Belgraders are certain to head out of the city for the Easter holidays, seeking a much-needed breath of fresh country air, and a large number of Belgrade’s expat residents might be tempted to head home for a brief respite from their pulsating lives in the Serbian capital.

Those who opt to stay, however, will be treated to an extravaganza of top-quality tennis at this year’s Serbia Open (April 23rd – May 1st), which will be the third, and apparently most entertaining, instalment of this annual event held at the Novak Tennis Complex in the city’s central Dorcol suburb.

With this year’s total prize money soaring to €416,000, after a number of leading companies (Telekom Srbija, Dunav Osiguranje, Carlsberg Srbija, Agrobanka among others) stepped in as sponsors, this year’s tournament has enticed some of the world’s top players. Media partners include Serbian state television (RTS), which will broadcast the entire tournament live, as well as MTV.

The fans who flock to centre court will be happy to see that its ever-increasing capacity has been expanded from last year by 2,000 seats to 9,000, while the cream of Belgrade’s high society should find their selected VIP boxes as cosy and comfortable as ever.

“The Serbia Open has become one of the three biggest social events in Belgrade, alongside the marathon and the book fair,” noted Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas, who also pointed out that City Hall had subsidised this year’s tournament with 10 million dinars.

It would be tough to contradict Mayor Djilas’s claim, particularly if you consider the tremendous progress made by Novak Djokovic’s father and uncle in building the tournament’s international reputation, in just three short years, through their Family Sport enterprise which is the event’s main organiser.  

While the inaugural 2009 tournament lured just a handful of quality players to compete against Djokovic, by last year it had already grown in stature and this year’s line-up boasts at least half a dozen players capable of giving Serbia’s top tennis player a good run for his money.

In order to measure up to the gargantuan statue erected within the complex last year – when Djokovic unfortunately pulled out in the second round due to illness – the world No. 2 will need to fire on all cylinders in his first tournament on red clay in 2011 after he pulled out of last week’s Monte Carlo Open with a knee injury.

There is little doubt that the 2009 winner will be hungry to recapture the crown, but John Isner, last year’s finalist, and an impressive Spanish contingent will have something to say about that on their favourite surface in this week-long tournament.