Novak Djokovic was awarded the title of ‘Best Balkan Athlete of the Year’ for the eighth time, setting a new record and surpassing NBA star Nikola Jokic on January 15.
36-year-old Djokovic secured three Grand Slam titles in 2023, bringing his overall record to 24. Meanwhile, Jokic earned the NBA Finals MVP title by leading the Denver Nuggets to victory. Both athletes hail from Serbia.
The Bulgarian News Agency released the results of the annual poll, which involved 58 athletes receiving votes. Alexandar Vezenkov, a Bulgarian basketball player, claimed the third position in the rankings.
Miltiadis Tentoglou from Greece and Ivana Spanovic from Serbia, champions in men's and women's long jump at the world championships last year, secured the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
The 50th edition of the Balkan poll, a tradition conducted by the national news agencies of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey, featured expanded participation. In addition to the usual agencies, the Italian news agency ANSA, the Cyprus News Agency, and KosovoPress also took part in the voting.
Meanwhile, in the Australian Open's first round on January 14, Djokovic faced a tough match against teenager Dino Prizmic. Djokovic managed to win with a score of 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, starting his title defence. While he initially looked in control on the Rod Laver Arena, where he has won 10 out of his 24 Grand Slam titles, the top-seeded player had to work hard against the young Croatian player born a few months after Djokovic's first Australian Open in August 2005.
Djokovic, who holds the record for being ranked no. 1 for a total of 408 weeks across 13 different years and finishing as the year-end no. 1 eight times, boasts an all-time high of 24 Grand Slam men's singles titles, including ten Australian Open victories. In total, he has amassed 98 singles titles, securing a record 71 Big Titles, comprising 24 majors, a record 40 Masters, and a record seven ATP Finals.
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