Ilija Bozoljac (Serbian Cyrillic: Илија Бозољац, pronounced [ǐlija boˈzǒːʎats]; born 2 August 1985) is a former Serbian professional tennis player and coach.On 29 January 2007, Bozoljac reached his best singles ranking of world No. 101. On 22 February 2016, he peaked at world No. 99 in the doubles rankings.Bozoljac's strongest weapon is a very powerful serve that he can hit at up to 245 km/h (152 mph), along with powerful groundstrokes. His nickname is Bozo.
 | |
| Country (sports) |  Yugoslavia (2002–2003) Serbia and Montenegro (2003–2006) Serbia (2006–2018) |
|---|---|
| Residence | Belgrade, Serbia |
| Born | 2 August 1985 Aleksandrovac, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) |
| Turned pro | 2002 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed both sides, occasionally one-handed forehand) |
| Coach | Daniel Meyers |
| Prize money | $742,198 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 11–20 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 101 (29 January 2007) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (2007) |
| French Open | 2R (2006) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2008, 2010) |
| US Open | Q3 (2010, 2011) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 9–18 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 99 (22 February 2016) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2017) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | F (2013) |
| Last updated on: 29 October 2018. | |
Professional career
edit2006
edit2006 was arguably Bozoljac's best year. In January, he had his best result at the ATP level in Zagreb, beating no. 170 Dudi Sela to qualify, and then beating no. 77 Daniele Bracciali and no. 34 Feliciano López, before losing to no. 81 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.
2008
editIn May, Bozoljac narrowly missed qualifying into the 2008 French Open, losing to no. 75 Eduardo Schwank in the qualifying round.
In June, Bozoljac entered the main draw of 2008 Wimbledon as a lucky loser, after beating Nick Monroe and Robert Smeets, but losing to Stefano Galvani in the qualifying round in five sets.
2010
editBozoljac qualified for Wimbledon and progressed to the second round, where he was defeated in four tight sets by defending champion Roger Federer.
He was a reserve player on the Serbia Davis Cup team when they won the Davis Cup title.
2013
editBozoljac began 2013 by returning to the ITF Men's circuit, taking three singles titles in the opening three months.[1]
In April, Ilija and his doubles partner Nenad Zimonjić beat Bob and Mike Bryan in the Davis Cup World Group quarterfinals against the United States, winning 7–6(5), 7–6(1), 5–7, 4–6, 15–13 in a performance described by Sports Illustrated as "Bozo goes Beast Mode...there was Bozoljac playing out of his mind in a five-set win that left everyone shaking their heads".[2] Bozoljac was praised by the Bryan brothers and by U.S. team captain Jim Courier, who said "Let's all tip our hats to his performance. We had him 15-30 a couple times, and the guy came up with some incredible shots."[3]
Style of play
editBozoljac is known for his unique style of play. He often changes the way he performs forehands and backhands, hitting double-handed forehands and single-handed backhands. He also has a strong serve, but he has to limit the strength of his serve due to a back injury. Nevertheless, he still serves well over 200 km/h.
Personal life
editBozoljac was born on August, 2, 1985 in Aleksandrovac, Serbia, to Jelena and Miroljub Bozoljac. He started playing tennis in TK Partizan in Belgrade and turned pro in 2002. He's married to Andrijana Basarić since 2011 and they have two daughters named Lola (b. 2012) and Nika (b. 2015). They live in Belgrade, Serbia.
Team competition finals
edit| Result | No. | Date | Team competition | Surface | Partner/Team | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1. | Nov 2013 | Davis Cup, Belgrade, Serbia | Hard (i) | 2–3 |
ATP Challenger Tour and ITF Futures finals
editSingles: 25 (13–12)
edit| Legend |
|---|
| ATP Challenger Tour (4–10) |
| ITF Futures (9–2) |
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1. | 22 August 2005 | Bukhara, Uzbekistan | Hard | 4–6, 7–6(7–2), 5–6 ret. | |
| Loss | 2. | 10 July 2006 | Poznań, Poland | Clay | 4–6, 3–6 | |
| Win | 3. | 4 September 2006 | Donetsk, Ukraine | Clay | 6–4, 3–6, 7–5 | |
| Loss | 4. | 22 October 2007 | Rimouski, Canada | Carpet (i) | 7–6(7–3), 4–6, 4–6 | |
| Win | 5. | 8 September 2008 | Ljubljana, Slovenia | Clay | 6–4, 6–3 | |
| Win | 6. | 15 September 2008 | Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina | Clay | 6–4, 6–4 | |
| Loss | 7. | 1 June 2009 | Nottingham, Great Britain | Grass | 7–6(7–4), 4–6, 6–7(4–7) | |
| Loss | 8. | 12 October 2009 | Tiburon, California, United States | Hard | 6–3, 3–6, 2–6 | |
| Loss | 9. | 9 November 2009 | Knoxville, Tennessee, United States | Hard (i) | 3–6, 6–7(6–8) | |
| Loss | 10. | 15 February 2010 | Belgrade, Serbia | Carpet (i) | 5–7, 6–7(4–7) | |
| Loss | 11. | 11 July 2011 | Aptos, United States | Hard | 2–6, 6–7(4–7) | |
| Loss | 12. | 29 September 2013 | Fergana, Uzbekistan | Hard | 6–7(9–11), 7–6(7–3), 1–6 | |
| Win | 13. | 15 February 2014 | Kolkata, India | Hard | 6–1, 6–1 | |
| Loss | 14. | 20 July 2014 | Recanati, Italy | Hard | 1–6, 2–6 |
Doubles: 27 (17–10)
edit| Legend |
|---|
| ATP Challenger (15–7) |
| ITF Futures (2–3) |
| Result | Date | Tournament | Category | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|
Performance timelines
edit| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Singles
editCurrent through the 2015 Banja Luka Challenger.
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | Q2 | 2R | A | Q1 | Q1 | Q2 | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | 1–1 | |
| French Open | A | A | A | 2R | Q1 | Q3 | 1R | Q2 | Q1 | A | A | Q1 | A | 1–2 | |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | 2R | Q2 | 2R | Q1 | A | A | Q1 | A | 2–2 | |
| US Open | A | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | Q1 | A | Q3 | Q3 | A | A | Q1 | A | 0–0 | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–5 | |
| National representation | |||||||||||||||
| Davis Cup | Z2 | A | A | PO | PO | A | 1R | Alt | SF | QF | F | 1R | A | 3–2 | |
| Win–loss | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | |
| ATP Masters Series 1000 | |||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |
| Monte-Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | Q2 | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |
| Madrid Open1 | A | A | A | Q2 | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |
| Canadian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | |
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Tournaments | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | |
| Overall win–loss | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–5 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 11–20 | |
| Year-end ranking | 834 | 567 | 207 | 136 | 182 | 141 | 183 | 149 | 227 | 485 | 237 | 207 | 852 | 35% | |
1 Held as Hamburg Masters (outdoor clay) until 2008, Madrid Masters (outdoor clay) 2009 – present.
Doubles
editCurrent through 2018 Wimbledon Championships.
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | 1–4 | |
| US Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | |
| National representation | ||||||||||||||||||
| Davis Cup | Z2 | A | A | PO | PO | A | 1R | Alt | SF | QF | F | 1R | A | A | A | A | 4–6 | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–6 | |
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tournaments | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | |
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 9–18 | |
| Year-end ranking | 545 | 817 | 339 | 255 | 468 | 171 | 489 | 136 | 446 | 900 | 282 | 254 | 110 | 640 | 333 | 33% | ||
References
edit- ^ Harvey, Luke (13 March 2013). "Bozoljac wins in Lille". ITF Pro Circuit. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
- ^ Nguyen, Courtney (April 18, 2013). "23 highlights from the 2013 season". SI.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2013.
- ^ Cripe, Chadd (April 7, 2013). "Advantage Serbia: Unlikely doubles pair outlasts Americans Bob and Mike Bryan in five-set thriller". Idaho Statesman.
External links
edit- Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 17 September 2021)
- Ilija Bozoljac at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- Ilija Bozoljac at the International Tennis Federation
- Ilija Bozoljac at the Davis Cup
- Ilija Bozoljac at ESPN.com