Janko Tipsarevic says he does not like to be viewed as someone who overcame a difficult childhood. The former Top 10 player grew up in wartime conditions in Serbia.
“Look, to be honest with you, I don’t want to cry and say it was ridiculously tough,” Tipsarevic told the *New York Times*. “It was, but I honestly didn’t feel it that much. I was lucky enough that I had a very, very dedicated father who was at the time working three jobs to support my tennis, and just for the record, I don’t really like these Rocky Balboa stories: He was poor and didn’t have money and then from nothing he became something, you know.
“Obviously it was really difficult but I was lucky enough that I had a father who was providing me enough to dress and eat and play enough tennis. I was lucky enough to be surrounded with good people who were pushing me to work hard, and this is how it happened.”