Australian Open 2026: Novak Djokovic, Elina Svitolina, Damir Dzumhur and Oleksandra Oleinikova talk about a career from humble beginnings

Damir Dzumhur, who has been among the top 100 players in the world over the past decade, was born in Sarajevo as missiles were raining down on the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 as the former Yugoslavia broke up.

Two days after Cumhur and his mother were removed from the maternity ward, the hospital was bombed.

When Dzumhur was old enough to pick up a racket, there were very few courts available. Most of them were bombed.

The world number 66 told BBC Sport: “My first steps on the court were in the small school gym, which was used for football and basketball, not tennis.”

“They put the net in the middle and that’s where I started playing.

“I didn’t play on proper hard courts until I was 12 in a junior tournament in France.”

Being born in a country without a tennis pedigree means that there is usually a lack of financial support from their federation and fewer role models to follow in the game.

Hantuchová believes players who come from humble beginnings develop a resilience, discipline and mentality that “we don’t see very often these days.”

“When I decided to play tennis, I asked my father if I could one day have a chance to pick up a racket,” said Hantuchová, who describes her upbringing in Bratislava as “simple.”

“I knew I had to wait until their monthly salary allowed them to do that.”

Novak Djokovic, considered by many to be the greatest player of all time after winning 24 major titles, has blazed a trail for Serbia.

As a child, Djokovic was forced to take refuge in Belgrade when NATO bombed the Serbian capital between March and June 1999.

“My upbringing during several wars in the 1990s was a difficult period,” the 38-year-old said in 2020.

“We had to wait in line to get bread and milk and water and some basic things in life. That was probably my foundation, the fact that I came from literally nothing.”