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

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

player who competed for

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. 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 The 1985 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 74th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 25 November through 8 December 1985; t ...

and the

1986 Wimbledon Championships The 1986 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 100th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

, 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 most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

, 1986 and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

, 1988), as well as eight doubles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP ranking on October 26, 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 Goran may refer to: Ethnic groups *Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa *Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East *Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of the southeastern Europe Other uses *Göran, a Swedis ...

. 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 the big Serb. Živojinović's most notable Grand Slam results were two semifinals. As an unseeded player at the

, he memorably beat

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beh ...

in a five-set quarterfinal to reach the semifinals (where he lost in straight sets to Mats Wilander). The next year, at the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

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 150 wins and 138 defeats. He was much more successful in

doubles Men's doubles, Women's doubles or Mixed doubles are sports having two players per side, including; * Beach volleyball * Doubles badminton * Doubles curling * Footvolley * Doubles pickleball * Doubles squash * Doubles table tennis * Doubles te ...

competition, winning the US Open in 1986 with Andrés Gómez. The same year, he won three more tournaments. He was ranked as the world No. 1 doubles player on September 8, 1986.

Career finals

Singles (2–2)

Doubles (8)

Team competitions (1)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Personal life

Živojinović was engaged to Zorica Desnica with whom he has a son Filip. The couple broke up before getting to the altar. Desnica later married basketball player

Ivo Nakić Ivo Nakić (born May 26, 1966) is a Croatian former professional basketball player, who is now a coach. Personal life He lives in Belgrade and works as an agent in Bill Duffy's BDA Sports Management agency. Ivo Nakić married Zorica Desnica ...

whom she has a son

Mario is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

and daughter Iva with—their son Mario also went on to become a professional basketball player. In 1991, Živojinović married Yugoslav folk singer Fahreta Jahić known as

Lepa Brena Fahreta Živojinović (; ; born 20 October 1960), known by her stage name Lepa Brena (), is a folk singer, actress, and businesswoman. She is the best-selling female recording artist from the former Yugoslavia. Lepa Brena grew up in Brčko, Bosni ...

. Živojinović's media prominence, especially in the years since his retirement, owes much to his marriage to Lepa Brena, Yugoslavia's biggest commercial folk singing star. Their wedding on December 7, 1991 was a media event throughout the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. The lavish ceremony took place at Belgrade's InterContinental Hotel with Ion Țiriac as the groom's best man. The level of interest in the event was such that Brena's manager Raka Đokić released a VHS tape of the wedding for commercial exploitation. Their very public relationship has been providing steady fodder for various yellow media publications ever since. The couple have two sons — Stefan (born in New York City in May 1992) and Viktor. In the afternoon hours of Thursday, November 23, 2000, 8-year-old Stefan was kidnapped by members of Zemun mafia clan and returned on Tuesday five days later on the side of

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

–

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, whi ...

highway for the ransom sum reported to be more than DM 2 million. Throughout 2005 and 2006, there were numerous tabloid reports about Živojinović's supposed infidelity and bad state of his marriage. In April 2006, he reportedly moved out of the family home following an argument with Brena. Although the reports of a separation were frequent and detailed,''Svet'', April 13, 2006
/ref> the couple are still together.

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Zivojinovic, Slobodan 1963 births Hopman Cup competitors Living people Olympic tennis players of 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