A Beginner’s Guide: Oh Hi, Dusan Lajovic
With Victor Troicki suspended and Janko Tipsarevic still injured, it’ll be World No. 117 Dusan Lajovic who will be playing second-fiddle to Novak Djokovic when Serbia takes on the Czech Republic in the Davis Cup finals in Belgrade this weekend.
You’d be excused if you didn’t know who Lajovic was before today. I didn’t, and Zimbio certainly didn’t. With that said, we’re living in the digital age and are blessed with the gift of the internet. The combination of those things have led to this:
Five Things You (Also) Probably Didn’t Know About Dusan Lajovic
1) His ATP bio says that he started playing tennis “by accident” because tennis was the only sport available for his age group. If he wasn’t a tennis player, he’d be a soccer player. Totally shocking. His goal is to win a grand slam (Wimbledon), but his favorite surface is hard courts. Go figure.
2) He was a member of the class of 2012 at ATP University, which exists to educate players about…well, the ATP. (Duh.) Topics covered include rules and officiating, giving back, one-on-one media training, marketing the tour, nutrition and personal finances. He was even quoted in the press release!
“I enjoyed learning more about the rules and the relationship between players and the ATP, that the ATP is here for us and by giving our opinions we can make improvements. It’s a valuable program. We have been playing tournaments for so long but I didn’t know what the organization could offer to me and what I can offer to it.”
3) His Twitter handle is pretty boss. @Dutzee, as he’s known on the site, apparently stems from a childhood nickname. A cursory glance reveals he likes mangoes, watching TV and USA Network’s Suits. No word on if he likes to eat mangoes while watching Suits.
4) He hangs out with Redfoo. (Who doesn’t at this point, really?)
We shuffled some tennis with @RedFoo @Stako_tennis today! #doha pic.twitter.com/L69uZT3A
— Dusan Lajovic (@Dutzee) December 24, 2012
5) You can watch his only ATP-level win in the past 18 months — a victory against Evgeny Donskoy at home in Belgrade — in its entirety on YouTube. What a time to be alive.
He owns a 5-12 career record at ATP level, but is 35-16 in Challenger events this year and has won a title. He won’t be making his Davis Cup debut, as that came last year against Sweden. (Do I really need to say that playing FILIP PRPIC in a dead fifth rubber is an entirely different animal than playing Tomas Berdych in front of a sold-out crowd of his home fans? IN THE FINALS?)
I didn’t think so, but I’m glad we got that out of the way. (It totally is.)
Lajovic will take on Berdych in the often-critical second singles rubber on Friday, following Djokovic vs. Radek Stepanek.
No pressure, right?
The Tennis Island 
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