By Scoop Malinowski
Status: ATP best ranking was 31 in doubles (2009) and 146 in singles (2008). He has also coached the Serbian Davis Cup and Olympic teams and professional players Novak Djokovic, Andrea Petkovic, Brandon Nakashima, and currently 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.
DOB June 17, 1976 In: Zadar, Croatia, Yugoslavia.
First Tennis Memory: First day on court, April 1, 1987, same club Novak Djokovic is from, Tennis Club Partizan. 300 kids on two courts [smiles]. April 1 to end of June. Anybody who signed up for tennis could play for free. I was lucky a coach saw me and took me up to a different level.
Tennis Inspirations: Every match I watched growing up. Playing tennis gave me an inspiration to solve positions, opponents. Tennis is an inspiration in itself, as a sport. No one match is the same. And if you’re smart enough, anytime you watch tennis, you have the opportunity to learn, even different levels, boys, girls, even with experienced amateurs, you can learn a new thing. You stay as an apprentice – that’s a tennis super power. You can always learn something.
First Famous Player You Met Or Encountered: I was a ballboy for Davis Cup 1989 Yugoslavia vs. Italy. Our best player was Bobo (Slobodan) Zivojinovic. He looked like a mountain. He was six-foot-four, 220 pounds.
Greatest Career Moment: I never thought of these. I don’t know… I can say being picked to represent my country. Being a part of the Serbian tennis legacy, starting point between myself, Nenad Zimonjic, being a new tennis country.
Most Painful Moment: I don’t know. Painful moment… winning and losing are shaping who you are. I never took it as tragedy.
Best You Ever Felt On Court: It was actually in doubles. One year, out of the blue, 2008 Roland Garros, I kind of played free. We were fifth or sixth alternates into main draw and we end making semifinals with match point and lost 76 in the third to eventual winners Horna and Cuevas. I played with Bruno Soares. I was ranked like 130, had no business playing, stayed there and practiced and got in main draw. We beat Bjorkman and Ullyet and Ehrlich/Ram. Tennis is a funny sport like that. If you find a way to stay in the moment, not have thoughts be a burden. All of us have experienced this, no matter the level. It’s good to be in that place.
Strangest Match: I played a match, I did not hit one top spin ball, all spins, slices, chips, volleys. I never came over the ball. It was at Queens on grass. I was the type of player who was resourceful. There was a pattern – drop shot, then lob off the return – versus Carlos Costa, who was top 100. I lost 64 in the third set. He didn’t shake my hand after. Players always liked to watch me because I played so free.
Funny Tennis Memory: I don’t know – I made others laugh [smiles]. I played in Mallorca Open, the inaugural opening of the tournament. Center court was a bull ring. I played a good lefty, Francisco Clavet, who just won in Bucharest. I’m the tennis lifer from Serbia, at the time he was 25 in the world. I played him the year prior in Rome. I felt I should play better than than I should have. His tennis is not overwhelming. He’s fit and runs well. So in Mallorca I played him different – stay back, hit simple, heavy around the court. I changed my game, far back behind baseline on his service games and hit heavy, deep, no end goal. My goal was to play 45 minutes, not finish the point. He couldn’t accelerate, he let the ball drop. We almost looked like two juniors. I was having so much fun. When I served, I serve and volleyed. I had one of the best kick serves. Why did I do it? Because I could. I won the match actually.
Last Book Read: Outliers. A Gameplan for Life by John Wooden. Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide To Inner Excellence by Gary Mack – a book you finish and want to share.
Davis Cup · Dusan Vemic · Novak Djokovic · Olympics · Roland Garros · Serbia
Ryan Balon · January 20, 2026 at 9:29 am
Scoop,
Great read.
I watched quit a bit of Dusan over the years as he always played in Newport, RI at the Tennis Hall of Fame.
He was well known for the sunglasses he always wore (similar to A. Clement) and was very talented.
Surprisingly he had a pretty strong serve and after retiring from tennis coached the likes of Novak, Petkovic, the Bryan Brothers and i believe for a short time Nakashima.
All in all solid guy and hopefully he can get Bianca Andreescu back to playing top level tennis on the tour.
Scoop Malinowski · January 20, 2026 at 9:37 am
Ryan, imagine if I tried that drop shot off the return and then lob strategy against you in our annual Newport hits? ) Dusan just gave me the new gameplan so get ready ) Yes Dusan Vemic is a unique figure in tennis and just may be the perfect director to help get the most out of the super talented Andreescu who is as creative on court as any player including Rios, Hsieh, Santoro, Jabeur. Imagine the book Vemic could write about tennis.