Novak Djokovic - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

Owing to his extroverted personality, fluency in several languages, and willingness to go along with comedic concepts, Djokovic became a fixture on entertainment-based TV talk shows around the globe immediately upon achieving a measure of prominence via results on the tennis court. After winning the Australian Open, his first major, in early 2008, Djokovic appeared on American late-night programme The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In May 2008, he was a special guest during the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Belgrade that year. He threw a big tennis ball into the crowd, announcing the start of the voting and together with one of the show's co-presenters Željko Joksimović, Djokovic sang a song about Belgrade.

Throughout spring 2009, during ATP Master Series tournaments in Madrid and Rome, respectively, the Serb was a guest on Pablo Motos' show El Hormiguero followed by an appearance on the Fiorello Show hosted by Italian comedian Rosario Fiorello.

In 2009, and 2010, Djokovic won an Oscar Of Popularity for the most popular male athlete in Serbia.

Djokovic is also featured in the music video for the song "Hello" by Martin Solveig and Dragonette. The video, filmed at Stade Roland Garros, shows Solveig facing off against Bob Sinclar, another DJ, in a tennis match. When the referee calls a crucial ball "Out", Djokovic enters the arena and convinces the referee otherwise.

In 2010, the Serbian blues-rock band Zona B recorded the song "The Joker", dedicating it to Djokovic.

Djokovic's international television appearances particularly intensified during his amazing run of form throughout 2011: after winning Wimbledon and reaching number one spot on the ATP list, he again appeared on Leno's Tonight Show as well as on Conan O'Brien's show on TBS. Djokovic's dramatic win at the US Open was followed by another television blitz including spots on Live with Regis and Kelly, CBS' The Early Show, NBC's Today as well as a walk-on appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. On 25 June 2011, its seventieth Congress in Chicago, all the members unanimously awarded Djokovic the Order of Serbian National Defense in America I class, the highest decoration of the SND. The order was given to him because of his merits in the international sport scene and his contributions to the reputation of Serbs and Serbia around the world. In mid-November 2011, he made a triumphant return to Rai 1's Fiorello Show. In late November during the ATP World Tour Finals in London he was a guest on David Frost's interview programme Frost Over the World on Al Jazeera English.

He was voted the 19th most influential man on AskMen.com's Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2011. On invitation from film producer Avi Lerner, Djokovic became part of the high-budget Hollywood movie production The Expendables 2 in a cameo playing himself, which he shot on 29 November 2011 in a warehouse in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. However, his bit part was cut out of the final version of the movie. He appeared on the cover of Italian GQ's March 2012 issue. Also in March he got profiled on the CBS show 60 Minutes by their correspondent Bob Simon. Djokovic made TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2012 list. On 26 October 2012 he appeared on Canal+'s Le Grand Journal.

Djokovic is also very popular on video sharing sites due to his famous imitations of other tennis players such as Maria Sharapova or Rafael Nadal.