Slobodan "Boba" Živojinović ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Живојиновић, ; born 23 July 1963) is a Serbian former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia. Together with Nenad Zimonjić, he is the only tennis player from Serbia to be the world No. 1 in doubles. As a singles player, he reached the semifinals of the 1985 Australian Open and the 1986 Wimbledon Championships, achieving a career-high ranking of world No. 19 in October 1987.

Tennis career

Živojinović represented SFR Yugoslavia as the number 15 seed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where he was defeated in the second round by France's Guy Forget. The right-hander won two career singles titles (

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 1986 and

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, 1988), as well as eight doubles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP ranking on 26 October 1987, when he became world No. 19. Živojinović was known for his tall, wiry frame that made him the original big-boom server before Goran Ivanisevic. He built his game on his big serve, enhanced greatly by his height and his muscular thighs. He was an exciting player to watch and a very troubling one to play against. His ace total in a match often became difficult to overcome, with the result that no one looked forward to playing against him. Živojinović's most notable Grand Slam results were two semifinals. As an unseeded player at the 1985 Australian Open, he memorably beat

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...

in a five-set quarterfinal to reach the semifinals (where he lost in straight sets to Mats Wilander). The next year, at the 1986 Wimbledon semifinal, again as an unseeded player, he lost to Ivan Lendl in a five-set match. Over the course of his career, Živojinović amassed an overall singles record of 152 wins and 139 defeats. He was much more successful in doubles competition, winning the US Open in 1986 with

Andrés Gómez Andrés Gómez Santos (; born 27 February 1960) is an Ecuadorian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 4 in singles and world No. 1 in doubles. Gómez won 21 singles titles and 33 doubles titles during his caree ...

. The same year, he won three more tournaments. He was ranked as the world No. 1 doubles player on 8 September 1986.

Career finals

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Doubles: 14 (8 titles, 6 runner-ups)

Team competitions: 1 (1 title)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Personal life

In the early-to-mid 1980s, active professional tennis player Živojinović became engaged to Zorica Desnica. The couple had a son, Filip, in 1985. They split up during the late 1980s. In October 1989, Živojinović began dating the Yugoslav folk superstar Lepa Brena, having reportedly met her at the premiere of her star vehicle movie '. Their 7 December 1991 wedding—a lavish ceremony at Belgrade's InterContinental Hotel with tennis player Ion Țiriac as the groom's best man—was a media event throughout

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. The level of attention it generated in the country was such that Brena's manager subsequently released a VHS tape of the wedding for commercial exploitation. The couple's child, son Stefan Emerald Živojinović, was born in May 1992 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Their second son, Viktor Ernest Živojinović, was born in March 1998 in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. On 23 November 2000, eight-year-old Stefan was kidnapped by the Zemun Clan in front of the family's home in Belgrade. He was released five days later and left on the side of a highway after his family paid a ransom reported to be more than DM 2 million."Stefan predat na niškom autoputu"
Glas-javnosti.rs, 1 December 2000.

References

External links

* * * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Zivojinovic, Slobodan 1963 births Hopman Cup competitors Living people Olympic tennis players for Yugoslavia Serbian male tennis players Tennis players from Belgrade Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics US Open (tennis) champions Yugoslav male tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players Presidents of the Tennis Federation of Serbia