Jelena Genčić

Jelena Genčić
Country (sports)  Yugoslavia
Born (1936-10-09)October 9, 1936
Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Died June 1, 2013(2013-06-01) (aged 76)
Belgrade, Serbia
Singles
Professional majors
Medal record
Women's Handball
Representing  Yugoslavia
World Championships
1957 Yugoslavia Team

Jelena Genčić (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Генчић, pronounced [jělena ɡěntʃitɕ]; 9 October 1936 – 1 June 2013) was a Serbian tennis and handball player and coach.

In the 1970s she became a junior tennis coach and was later credited for playing a major role in the early development of numerous top class professional players and future grand slam champions. Among the players she discovered and coached are Monica Seles, Novak Djokovic, Goran Ivanišević, Mima Jaušovec, Iva Majoli, and Tatjana Ječmenica. Genčić-coached players went on to collect 26 Grand Slam single titles: Djokovic 14, Seles 9, Ivanišević 1, Jaušovec 1, and Majoli 1.

Early life and education

Born as one of seven children to Serbian father Jovan and Austrian mother Hermina, Jelena came from a prominent Serbian family. Her grandfather Lazar Genčić studied medicine in Vienna, becoming Serbia's first surgeon in addition to running a hospital and holding the rank of general in World War I's Serbian campaign.[1] Her great uncle Đorđe Genčić was the interior minister in the cabinet of Nikola Pašić and one of the chief conspirators of the May Coup.

She graduated in art history at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Philosophy.

Career

Sports

Genčić was a handball and tennis player, playing the two sports in parallel. In handball, she played the goalkeeper position, making the Yugoslav women's national team and winning bronze at the inaugural World Championships in 1957.[2]

In 1963, at the age of twenty seven, she quit handball, devoting herself fully to tennis.[2]

During the mid-1970s, after retiring from active play, she became a tennis coach, discovering and coaching Novak Djokovic, Monica Seles, Goran Ivanišević, Mima Jaušovec, Iva Majoli, and Tatjana Ječmenica.[3]

Media

Genčić worked as a television director at the state-owned television network TV Belgrade that eventually transformed into Radio Television of Serbia.

References

  1. ↑ ;Blic Žena, 9 May 2010
  2. 1 2 Arsenijević, Vidan (August 1975). "Jelena Genčić, slavna teniserka i višestruki fenomen našeg sporta: Jaka volja čini čoveka!". TV novosti. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  3. ↑ Novak Djokovic thrashes Grigor Dimitrov in French Open;BBC News website, 1 June 2013
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